All the talk is about host nation Brazil, or how Argentina’s Lionel Messi will finally lead his side to glory.
How Belgium will assemble their Premier League superstars and romp to the final matches, how Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo will finally end the perennial under-performance of Portugal, how Spain is overflowing with riches and will surely defend their crown resolutely.
But nothing about the Germans.
A friend of mine noted this week that Germany always fly under the radar, until they make another final.
And I can’t help but think this incarnation of the Germany team is as well-equipped as any before it.
The 30-man squad is bursting with experience, and perhaps the most dynamic midfield of any team in world football.
Based on their initial squad, how about this as a starting XI for their opening match against Portugal.
Manuel Neuer
(Bayern Munich)
Phillip Lahm Jerome Boateng Mats Hummels Marcel Schmelzer
(Bayern Munich) (Bayern Munich) (Borussia Dortmund) (Borussia Dortmund)
Bastian Schweinsteiger Lars Bender
(Bayern Munich) (Bayer Leverkusen)
Marco Reus Thomas Muller Mesut Ozil
(Borussia Dortmund) (Bayern Munich) (Arsenal)
Mario Gotze
(Bayern Munich)
It’s staggering – and that’s leaving on the bench the sublime talents of Toni Kroos. Other players to miss out on that team above – which is just my best guess, I should add – include Per Mertesacker, Sami Khedira, Lukas Podolski, Julian Draxler and Andre Schurrle.
And one of the weapons they’ll have off the bench is the ultimate big-tournament player – Miroslav Klose.
The Polish-born striker is now 35 and has played just 22 games for Lazio in the last season, but has a most formidable goal-scoring record for his country, especially at the World Cup.
He needs just one strike to go past Gerd Muller and become Germany’s all time leading goalscorer, and just two to surpass the immortal Ronaldo – the Brazilian one, that is – as the leading World Cup goalscorer in history.
The squad is so deep, in fact, that there’s no place for Fiorentina forward Mario Gomez – who has been injured this season, but still boasts 25 goals from 59 games with the national team.
Germany lost the 2002 final to Brazil and was placed third in both 2006 and 2010. But without a title since 1990, as West Germany, this is a real drought for a team with such pedigree.
They’ll be thereabouts at the business end of the World Cup once again – and I think they can win it.
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