“German international goalkeeper Robert Enke has been killed after being hit by a train at a level crossing, police said on Tuesday. Police said that the death could be a suicide.” – AFP

Words fail me.

When Franz Beckenbauer announced following the World Cup victory in 1990 that a united Germany would be unstoppable for years to come, he was as mistaken as Pele in his prediction. Aside from brief moments of hope in Euro ’92 and Euro ’96 the expected push coming from the integration of East German players never seemed to completely materialize. With the injury forced retirement of Matthias Sammer the German dominance completely flickered out. Indeed, World Cup ’98 seemed to be a watershed for Germany as it went deeper and faster into the abyss of football obscurity.

Reaching the final in World Cup 2002 proved Beckenbauer’s prediction was not totally misplaced. Although it was by far Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack who got Germany to the final against Brazil, it was in no small part due to the skills of “Schnix” Bernd Schneider. If Ballack was the engine of the team then Schneider was its catalyst with his clever passes, amazing dribbling, and vital presence in midfield.

Schneider was again pivotal for Germany’s success during Germany ‘06. Indeed, if it were not for his near-miss against Italy, Germany might have been going for its fifth FIFA star in South Africa.

Sadly since then, Schneider has suffered the same cruel fate that befell Matthias Sammer. Despite flashes of his former brilliance Schneider has never been able to shake off his persistent injuries. Those injuries prevented his participation in Euro 2008 where his absence was telling.

In the end, Schneider’s injury may have affected Germany and Bayer Leverkusen for the worse, but thankfully he can rest assured that his passion for football is shared by the future of the DFB-Elf. Germany is on the verge of a historic youth football treble – once again brilliant and on the ascendant. By carrying team Germany this past decade and gracefully handing the baton on, Schneider’s contribution to the German football legacy will never be forgotten.

The one thing that I will say… Ballack’s days as Captain should be numbered.  He is past the time of leading this team.

We’re all with you on this one Schweini.

I haven’t watched the game against Croatia yet because I was working. I DVR’d it, but I have to say, after the live score and commentary, it seems like I was right when I said Germany would need to step up their game in order to beat Croatia.

Things started out mostly harmless, when former Polish international Zbigniew Boniek said, his research had revealed that Polish football players are exactly 16 times more intelligent than their German counter parts.

Fakt then got more ambitious with a montage of Michael Ballack in a 1/3 medieval, 1/3 first World War, 1/3 football kit outfit, put to the sword by Poland’s Dutch coach Leo Beenhakk & Slayer. Which was again topped by Super Express and a more tasteless version, with Leo Beenhakker holding the decapitated heads of Michael Ballack and Jogi Löw, as if he was some terrorist on a cheap VHS tape.

Germany’s own evil four letter newspaper, has so far only chronicled its’ colleagues efforts in an article which is currently sharing the website’s front page with Hillary Clinton and Megan Fox’s voracious sex drive (as of June 4th). But they are probably already cooking something up in their Photoshop laboratories as well. For those of you, who are new to all of this: they could go for a Borat approach, which is a generally safe bet for anything Eastern European, or they could chose the “Poles steal cars” theme. A stereotype which I think was born shortly after the Cold War, when organised crime groups used the open borders “to export” German cars to Poland to resell them for a profit.

And while talking about profits, it’s worth mentioning the following fact: Fakt is owned by the German Springer Verlag, which – surprise revelation – also owns Bild. I guess Super Express just couldn’t stand seeing the sister papers playing ball with each other and joined in on the party.

DFB boss Theo Zwanziger and Leo Beenhakker meanwhile were left with all the diplomatic homework. Beenhakker denounced the photomontages and distanced himself from everything. He even had some kind words for the Germans: “There aren’t many fans of German football in Holland, but I am one.”

Then Theo Zwanziger said something nice about the Poles: “The Poles are our neighbours and friends. We have a very good relationship.”

And now I will say something nice about the Poles as well: They have an excellent blog here at the World Cup Blog. So head over to the Poland blog to get some valuable insights ahead of Sunday’s game.

I would like to say thanks and welcome aboard to Jan. He’s sure to help get things going here!

“We are very pleased that Michael is absolutely fit and that he’s coming back to the national team after such a long time,” coach Joachim Loew said Thursday in announcing the 20-man squad. “He has shown strong performances after his comeback in Chelsea and we hope he can build on that. He has a very important role in our plans for the European Championship.”

Although Wednesday’s match is just a friendly, it will be a good gauge for the team as they are grouped with Austria in the Euro 2008 games. Other news is that Lukas Podolski, who is nursing a back injury, should be back in time for this match. Loew will be without Torsten Frings, Christoph Metzelder, Arne Friedrich, Marcell Jansen, Clemens Fritz, Christian Pander and Serdar Tasci due to various injuries.

 Loew has put of deciding who will play alongside Kevin Kuranyi.  The decision comes down to Lukas Podolski, who hasn’t received much playing time for Bayern Munich as of late or Mario Gomez.  Podolski, not for lack of wanting to play, hasn’t played due to the amazing run that the duo of Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni have had at Bayern.  Klose is out hurt so the decision remains… who will be play alongside Kuranyi?  The good thing going for Podolski is that he scored the winning goal in Germany’s last match against Ireland.  But, he hasn’t received much playing time since recovering from injury.  Will Loew go with his favorite choice or will he put Gomez in?

With all of the national pride at stake and bla bla… Come on. Quality papers like the Sun are – of course – gonna have another headline tomorrow like “The tanks are rolling again into the new Wembley” or “Bloody Krauts”. That’s part of the fun. Wait for our OOOMPAH-bands. A brilliant World Cup can be forgotten pretty darn quick. But how much is it about that game at all? I wish Löw would have nomminated Didi Hamann, all he can field is 11 players and 6-7 more right now. But it would be insane to risk any injuries right now in the first place for something that is being called a friendly. But that’s not what it is. This is always a matter of “national pride and honor”.

There are quite some players being injured for England, Rooney will be definitely out, Beckham and Hargreaves might be unfit to play. But as a Germany blogger, I’m gonna be more detailed about “my” team:

Definitely out, but consistant players from World Cup and/or the qualifiers are (There is no third goalie so substract from 22):

Podolski, Ballack, Klose, Frings, Fritz (and I would have loved to seen him on the squad, just for the name’s sake!), Gomez, Jansen, Schweinsteiger. Not 100% fit: Metzelder after a sprained ankle, Mertesacker after a back injury, Hilbert after having to play defense instead of his common offensive midfielder role, Kießling because of a mild concussion suffered last weekend, Lahm because of a torn cartilage 6 weeks ago.

The players that are regulars is narrowing down to: Lehmann, Lahm, Friedrich, Metzelder, Schneider, Mertesacker. Khedira was nominated, but can’t even play. Another “young gun” is Pander, a defensive player from Schalke. Hitzlsperger will have his big chance to step up, rise, shine and reenact a “Hamann” with a free kick. Pander will see game time. God bless them, but I hope Helmes, Odonkor, Rolfes and Tasci are not gonna see too much playing time against experienced England pro’s. But then, on the other side… what other reason would there be having those U25-players on the lose? Am I just too afraid of the English side? Couldn’t there be anything sweeter to beat England again, after Germany beated England in their very last game at the old Wembley? The kids will know what to do, even if they’ll loose with dignity. Give’em hell, boys! And if you’ll blow it, do it with portliness.

Realistically, with all the injuries, England is still the favourite, espacially on home soil. Being real, Germany has a coach that is by far better than his counterpart and this might hold England to a draw. See you again for a restrospective analysis of the game. My best guess: 2:1 for England.

19:1 points. 29:4 goals. The draw in Cyprus keeping Germany from a perfect record. I’ve let you know how bad I’ve felt about the Slovakia game. And they start to surprise me even more. I can’t draw that many conclusions from this game. Except for:

- Schneider can not be creative and he never hits the goal

- Klose plays like back in the day when I disliked him

- Germany can not only win games uglily, but also dominates them like that. Yet again, we ain’t Italy.

- If Germany can win against a decent opposition without 9 World Cup players, espacially the likes of Ballack and Schweinsteiger, there is something Löw must be right about

So, statistically… Germany is the best team on the road to EURO 2008. How come? Because they now manage to free themselves out of dangerous situations by short passes and not long balls. They can score goals by decent play action and not only lucky headers. They are not prone anymore to run into counter attacks because they finally have wingers that are way below 30. The team that stood on the pitch lately has an average age (w/out goalie) of roundabout 25 years, the lowest total of a constantly winning German team ever. Be reminded: If the German U23 team would have managed to qualify for the Olympic Games, the following players could have taken part in 2008’s Olympics: Mertesacker, Madlung, Helmes, Kießling, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Jansen, Hilbert, Podolski, Trochowski, Neuer, Polanski, Gomez. 13 players with Germany experience. But then again: This Olympics wouldn’t matter because they have won the EURO 2008 by next years July then.

Do you believe in miracles? Even if you don’t. Expect Germany to be a contender. The way to the title will lead to an inevitable game against zee Mannschaft. Espacially if you’re English and can not convert penalties. Beckham’s career is prone to end in the semis next year after missing his chance on immortality.