Last summer, it was Germany's time to shine as die Mannschaft celebrated their fourth World Cup title after thrashing Brazil 7-1 en route to a tense 1-0 win over Argentina. A year later, the women's squad can match their male colleagues by winning what will be their third crown this summer in Canada, and should they do so, it would mark the first time that the World Cup has been awarded to both the men's and women's teams in one nation in successive years.
Well, Germany's ladies, nicknamed die Nationalelf, are certainly in pole position to make that happen. Ranked as no. 1 among women's football teams - like the men's side - Silvia Neid's squad were unstoppable during their qualifying rounds as they easily cruised to wins over teams like Ireland, Croatia, and Slovakia in their group, all without losing or even drawing any of their ten matches.
Leading up to Canada, which will be the team's seventh appearance, Germany have looked largely unruffled in 2015. Save for a loss to Sweden in the Algarve Cup - which they got their revenge after beating them a week later on March 11th - the two-time World Cup winners have been in top form and well-deserving of their position as heavy favourites to win it all this summer.
Germany's women have long been a force to reckoned with on the World Stage, with an eye-popping eight wins out of the 11 EURO championships, including the last six consecutively, and in 2007, won their second World Cup sans conceding a single goal, a feat that has yet to be matched by any side in world football.
The team's strength lies not in just their individual talent, but their overall collective class. For instance, Neid will have to do without key midfielder Fatmire Alushi (née Bajramaj) after the player recently announced that she will not feature this summer due to being pregnant with her first child. And whilst her manager admitted that it would be a "major loss" because of her influence on the side, a look at some of Germany's players reveal that the team will be just fine without Alushi as she prepares for motherhood.
Goalkeeper: Nadine Angerer
At 36, Angerer is arguably among the best goalkeepers in the women's game today. Last year, she was nominated as the FIFA Player of the Year, making her the first ever keeper to clinch the much coveted award. Although she officially was called into the senior team in 1996, the presence of then no. 1 Silke Rottenberg prevented her from featuring for nearly a decade, and in fact, she won six titles - two Olympic bronze medals, three EURO Championships, and one World Cup - without getting to play a single game.
However, following an injury to Rottenberg, Angerer was finally given her chance and since then she has not looked back. In 2007, she played every single minute of Germany's repeat World Cup triumph and set a record by keeping a clean sheet during the entire duration of the tournament. Now serving as the team's skipper following Birgit Prinz's retirement, she will hope to play a role in winning a third World Cup this summer before she finally hangs up her gloves - as she announced her own plans to call time on her career this fall before reaching her 37th birthday.
Midfielders: Dzsenifer Marozsán and Simone Laudehr
Hungarian born Dzsenifer Marozsán, who set a record as the youngest ever player (at age 14) and goalscorer (at age 15) to feature in the Bundesliga, got her first taste of first-team competition in Germany's EURO 2013 title-winning campaign. Before that, she was already a star in the making, having won several personal accolades and team titles at numerous youth championships.
Since bursting onto the senior scene in 2010, she has been scoring goals at a rate that would even make some strikers green with envy. A total of 25 goals since her first international strike on February 15, 2012 in just 48 caps is an impressive achievement and the team's fans will hope to see more of this
Not to be outdone by her teammate at club level, Simone Laudehr has been a mainstay in the national set-up since making her debut in 2007. The FFC Frankfurt midfielder, who also can be deployed as a winger, was a part of the team's World Cup win that year, as well as their successful 2009 and 2013 EURO campaigns. With 24 goals so far, including four in their qualifying rounds, she provides another goal-scoring threat which is great for Germany - but not so much for their opponents.
Forwards: Celia Šašić, Alexandra Popp, Anja Mittag, Melanie Behringer
Germany have by far the most feared attack in this tournament, and naturally, this is all due to their talented strikers. This quartet, with 143 goals between them are all prolific goalscorers for their respective clubs. Both Alexandra Popp and Celia Šašić - currently her nation's top active goal-scorer - have netted 27 goals in 54 appearances and 57 in 104 respectively, meaning an average of one goal every two games.
They combined for 12 goals during qualifying, and not to be outdone, Anja Mittag was their most prolific attacker with 11 goals. And finally, Bayern attacker Melanie Behringer, who will be making her third World Cup appearance will provide another option for Neid up front.
Germany will be based in Ottawa as they play their first two games at the Lansdowne Stadium, and then it's off to Winnipeg for their final group stage game at Winnipeg Stadium on June 15th.
Here are the players selected by Silvia Neid as they chase their third World Cup title this summer:
Goalkeepers: Nadine Angerer (Portland Thorns FC), Laura Benkarth (SC Freiburg), Almuth Schult (VfL Wolfsburg)
Defenders: Saskia Bartusiak (1. FFC Frankfurt), Jennifer Cramer (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam),
Josephine Henning (Paris Saint-Germain), Tabea Kemme (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam), Annike Krahn (Paris Saint-Germain), Leonie Maier (Bayern Munich), Babette Peter (VfL Wolfsburg), Bianca Schmidt (1. FFC Frankfurt)
Midfielders: Sara Däbritz (SC Freiburg), Lena Goeßling (VfL Wolfsburg), Simone Laudehr (1. FFC Frankfurt), Melanie Leupolz (Bayern Munich), Lena Lotzen (Bayern Munich), Dzsenifer Marozsán (1. FFC Frankfurt)
Forwards: Pauline Bremer (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam), Anja Mittag (FC Rosengård), Lena Petermann (SC Freiburg), Alexandra Popp (VfL Wolfsburg), Celia Šašić (1. FFC Frankfurt), Melanie Behringer (Bayern Munich)
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