EURO 2012 Focus - Germany
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As the EURO 2012 approaches, Extratime.ie will take an indepth look into each participating team. Fergus McNally looks at the EURO 2012 Group B side Germany.
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Where they are staying, where they are playing
Three interesting facts about the team
Germany have announced a preliminary squad of 27
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Tim Wiese (Hoffenheim), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Moenchengladbach)
Defenders: Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Bendikt Howedes (Schalke), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Marcel Schmelzer (Dortmund)
Midfielders: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Sven Bender (Dortmund), Lars Bender (Leverkusen), Ilkay Gundogan (Dortmund), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Marco Reus (Moenchengladbach), Mario Gotze (Dortmund), Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid)
Strikers: Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Cacau (Stuttgart), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Andreas Schurrle (Leverkusen), Lukas Podolski (Cologne)
Germany qualified for the 2012 Euro Finals with typical German efficiency winning all 10 of their games, scoring 34 goals and only conceding only 7 along the way.
Drawn in a group with Turkey, Belgium, Austria, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan few would have doubted that they would come out of the group but the manner which they dispatched their opponents was simply devastating.
Miroslav Klose was their top scorer with nine goals (second only to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Holland with 12) followed by Mario Gómez with six and Mesut Özil with five.
Miroslav Klose is undoubtedly the one to watch, the Lazio Striker has played 113 times and scored 63 goals for Germany and during the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Klose scored at least one goal in every single game he played, striking against all of Germanys opponents, and scored nine goals in only six games.
Despite suffering a thigh injury last month he expected to return to action in the next two weeks and is expected to travel.
Where they are playing, where they are staying
Germany are staying at the five-star luxurious Dwór Oliwski Hotel, in the historical district of Gdansk. Within the renovated walls of a 17th century manor house, Dwór Oliwski Hotel offers 70 elegant, air-conditioned rooms, a state-of-the-art, fully equipped conference centre and a stylish SPA.
The football pitch of the Gdansk Sports and Recreation Centre, 9 km from the hotel, where the footballers of Lechia Gdansk used to train and play league matches before they moved to the PGE Arena Gdansk, was selected as the German team base training site.
They will play their first and last group games against Portugal and Denmark in Lviv some 723 km away while their other game v Holland in Kharkiv which is over 1,500km away.
Three interesting facts about the team
- Miroslav Klose was born in the Silesian city of Opole, Poland
- Joachim Löw has a staff of 17 with his assistant Hans-Dieter Flick, Goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke, three fitness coaches, a Mental Coach, Business Manager and Athletic supervisor, two scouts, three doctors and four physios.
- Joachim Löw had the best start ever of any German National Coach with five straight victories before a surprise draw v Cyprus brought an end to his 100% record.
Feb 29, 2012 Germany 1 - France 2 FR
Nov 15, 2011 Germany 3 - Netherlands 0 FR
Nov 11, 2011 Ukraine 3 - Germany 3 FR
Oct 11, 2011 Germany 3 - Belgium 1 EC
Oct 7, 2011 Turkey 1 - Germany 3 EC
About Fergus McNally
Fergus McNally, an Extratime Photographer since 2007, will be covering all Dublin Clubs and Derry when they are in the capital, he can be contacted at fergusmcnally@gmail.com View Full Profile