Nearly men, chokers, the bridesmaids.
The above are some of the names associated with the current crop of German players. It seems that when the going gets tough in the latter stages of tournaments, Germany fails.
They kick-started this campaign by scoring at-least four goals yet again, having done so in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Each time, Germany progressed deep into the tournament while not being fancied. In 2002, Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn dragged the side to the final. In 2006, Jürgen Klinsmann injected fun, pace and new ideas into the side to lead them to a third place finish. An almost new batch arrived in 2010. The result was the same. In Euro 2012, Germany was supposed to crown their talents; instead their campaign ended in yet another semifinal defeat against Italy.
We learned very little about the Germans yesterday because they were not tested enough. This is of course a testament to their quality but Portugal just could not get going after conceding in the eleventh minute. Much tougher tests lie ahead, even perhaps in Ghana and USA. The USA for one inflicted Germany's only defeat in their past 18 matches, 5-3 in a friendly. Ghana gave Germany a tough time in 2010, with the Germans edging past them, 1-0, on a nervy final day of the group stage campaign.
In truth, it is hard to predict how the Germans will go ahead. The setup yesterday was completely different from the setup in 2010. A back four of Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Per Mertesacker and Benedikt Höwedes will seemingly continue through the tournament for Germany if Hummels manages to get back on his feet again. Philipp Lahm will most likely continue to shield the back four. Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos sat in front of him against Portugal- the big question is here. Will Bastian Schweinsteiger be left on the bench for the remainder of the tournament?
Mesut Özil and Mario Götze started on the flanks yesterday; in the future, Andre Schürrle or Lukas Podolski might get a start. Müller might shift to the wing to allow Miroslav Klose to feature in the future too. This unpredictability might actually help Germany in the long run, making them tough to figure out. However, they might run into some troubles in Group G despite looking like favorites to win the group at this point.
Ghana has plenty of power available in midfield. There is every chance that Lahm, the defensively slightly suspect Kroos and the not completely match fit Sami Khedira might get overrun. If these three are overrun, the most advanced three will end up receiving little service. In situations like these, Germany could use the firepower of Podolski, Schürrle and Klose.
The USA showed yesterday that they are incredibly hard to break down. While they offered little creatively, they defended in a very disciplined manner. Germany has had tough times before in breaking down oppositions which park the bus well. Also, USA scored a goal from a set piece yesterday. Germany's defending of set pieces is suspect as well.
Despite the different setups on their respective opening days, Germany and Netherlands can be compared to each other in the manner in which they approached the matches. Both teams counterattacked very well. The Dutch sometimes bypassed Spain's midfield; Germany did not need to do so though as they found enough space to play through Portugal's midfield. Both look defensively slightly naive. Neither were considered to be hot favorites for the title. Both teams lined up much differently than imagined even though Louis Van Gaal had spoken about the 5-3-2 prior to the tournament.
The next question is of course whether the Germans can go all the way. More often than not, the second match tends to tell us more about the German's problems than the first in the group stages. In 2010, they went down 1-0 to Serbia and had to fight to win the group. In 2008 in the Euros, they surprisingly lost to Croatia in the second match. In 2006, they needed a winner from Oliver Neuville in the dying seconds against Poland to take the three points. Thus, we can expect to learn more about them against Ghana.
Also, plenty of things change during the course of a tournament. Not many expected them to put four past both England and Argentina in 2010 but they did exactly that. They had a bit of luck against England due to Franck Lampard's disallowed goal of course.
On the basis of talent and unpredictability, and considering how much this team is influenced by players of the 2013 UEFA Champions League campaigns of Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, this team can go all the way. But the past few tournaments have shown that Joachim Löw has made incorrect decisions previously (fielding Kroos against Andrea Pirlo in 2012 versus Italy and fielding Piotr Trochowski instead of Kroos in 2010 against Spain) in latter stages.
He was brave enough to bench Bastian Schweinsteiger this time though. He might just have the courage to make big decisions in big matches (and the correct ones too). Fitness,a good rotation policy, game changers and consistent performances from the back line and Lahm will be needed for Germany to go all the way. They will need some luck too.
They might finally go all the way. But judging a team based on opening day performances is not a good thing to do as Spain displayed in 2010. Does Germany finally have what it takes to win an international tournament since 1996? Or will this campaign end in disappointment too?
