Atlético Madrid has given the shirt No.9 to the fresh arrival of the team Nikola Kalinic. The Croatian takes over the squad number that Fernando Torres left after his move to Sagan Tosu of Japan in the last month.
German football players have turned on Arsenal playmaker MesutOzilin the post-game analysis following the 1-0 loss to Mexico, as per reports. There were many repercussions for the defending champions as they crashed against their Mexicans. German newspapers lambasted the players for the poor performance and the players had to convene for a crisis talk.
Following the superb campaign of Germany in the 2014 World Cup, some players have been suffering from physical problems and injuries which is the case of Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger as the midfielder has not been able to perform for his club in this season and has not played for Germany in any of their Euro 2016 qualifying matches. Schweinsteiger is not expected to play neither for his club or his country in this year due to the injury.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil is another key figure who has sustained an injury and is expected to be out of action for around 3 months.
Injuries is a factor that has started to affect the German more and more as key figures are sustaining physical problems and according to the head coach of the German national football team, Joachim Low believes that his squad are playing too much club football and this is affecting the performances of his players when performing at the international scene.
“The load on players is too high. The high demands on teams in national leagues and of course the Champions League and it’s too much. If you look at the players, they need more of a break. Some players only get as little as three weeks after a major tournament and its straight back to the grind. Many of the players who are with us now, if you analyze their situation they have too short a break before they are reintegrated into their clubs in pre-season. It’s simply not enough. Maybe it doesn’t make a difference over one particular season but it certainly does over several.’’ Germany’s Joachim Low said as he was trying to explain one of the reasons on why his squad has been performing so underwhelming recently.
Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose are some of the other German players that have recently been affected with injuries.
The Colombian former manager of Honduras Luis Suarez decided to resign from his position of coaching the Honduran national football team after his team was knocked out of the FIFA 2014 World Cup in the group stages where they failed on securing a single point. Cameroon, Australia and Honduras were the 3 teams that had to exit the tournament without picking up a victory or a draw.
Honduras was pitted with France, Ecuador and lastly Switzerland with all of those matches ending in a defeat and in an eventual elimination from the World Cup.
The head coach of Honduras during that tournament was Luis Suarez after their disappointing campaign; he decided to step down and resign from his position with Hernan Medford being appointed as the next manager.
Hernan Medford signed a 1 year contract with the Honduran Football Federation which will see him being in charge of the national team during the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
However, before the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup there is another challenge that awaits Hernan Medford which will be the Central American Cup which is going to be held in the United States and this competition serves as a Gold Cup qualifier which means that Medford has to pick up positive results in order for his team to be able to even qualify and get into the CONCACAF Gold Cup which is the one of the biggest championship’s in that region.
“I have to meet with my technical staff to determine where we are going to work with 22 or 23 players who will be called up and which ones we will be on the final list for the Central American Cup,” said Medford.
Both USA and Germany should have made it to the Round of 16 in the ongoing FIFA World Cup by now. Both had won their first games comfortably and had a comparatively weaker opponent to face in the second game, but, neither could bring out its best performance and win.
USA played a draw against Portugal, while, Germany did the same against Ghana. Now, the scenario is that both of them are in need of one point to advance to the knockouts.
They would be facing each other at Arena Pernambuco on Thursday and if it’s a draw, both would be through, while, the other two teams in Group G (Ghana and Portugal) would be out. But, if one wins and the other loses, it would bring Ghana and Portugal in picture.
Ghana and Portugal have one point each in two games, while, Germany and USA have four each in as many games.
In case of a draw in Thursday’s match, Germany and USA would have 5 points each and it would be impossible for Ghana and Portugal to reach there. But, in case of a clear result, one out of Germany and USA would get stuck on 4 points and then, Ghana and Portugal would have the chance to get levelled with that team.
In normal circumstances, people would think that if both the teams need a draw, they would try to play safe and thus, a goalless draw is a possibility. But, the game between USA and Germany is going to be a bit different. The Germans are actually furious after having got only one point from that Ghana match. They are eager to get back to winning ways. So, in all likelihood, they would try to be aggressive and hand USA a humiliating defeat.
The statements made by Per Mertesacker yesterday was enough to suggest how the Germans are feeling.
Mertesacker said, “We would go out there (against USA) and try to show what we are capable of. I think it’s sort of a do-or-die match for both of us.”
So, a goalless draw is not looking like happening on Thursday. Whatever happens, it would be thrilling to watch, that’s for sure.
Mario Gomez recently came back from an injury that kept him out of action for 5 months and he has been featured in the latest matches of his team with Fiorentina which is great news for Joachim Low as he will need all the players he can get to be completely fit and ready to play with Germany. The former Bayern Munich player is expecting that during the remaining matches he has left with Fiorentina, it will be enough for him to showcase his abilities and form in order to be featured for the World Cup.
“A World Cup in Brazil is the greatest event in which a footballer can play; I do not want to have the feeling that I’m a sparring partner for preparation. I want to make a difference.” Gomez said during an interview.
If Joachim Low decides on implementing a formation with only 1 striker upfront, then it is very likely that he will be choosing Miroslav Klose who is close on breaking the record that Ronaldo Nazario established some years ago as he is the top World Cup goal-scorer with 15 goals scored and the German Miroslav Klose is only 1 goal away from matching the record.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil is not going through the best of times after he missed his penalty kick when playing against Bayern Munich during the Champions League 1st leg which was played a few weeks ago, the former Real Madrid player has been a subject of criticism claiming that he is not worth the £42.5 million which Arsenal had to pay in order to secure the services of the German midfielder but according to Joachim Low, he will be counting on Ozil for the World Cup.
“If you’re playing at Real Madrid or Arsenal, you have to live with criticism when it isn’t going well. Mesut can do that very well indeed. I’m counting on Mesut for Brazil, because I know that he wants success in tournaments. He’s shown that in the past,” Low said.
Germany are extremely strong in all areas of the pitch and it has made them as one of the strong favourites for the upcoming World Cup. However, they remain extremely light up front due to the profile of their strikers. Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose continue to remain the major strikers for the nation, which has put them in a precarious situation ahead of the competition. This is likely to be the final tournament for Klose, who is in the final years of his career. Gomez, meanwhile, has suffered injury problems with his club Fiorentina.
He has not played for the last few months after suffering the injury back in September, but he recently confirmed that he is close to returning to action. Despite this, Germany would want to have a backup in case these players are not available for any of the matches. As a result, manager Joachim Loew has revealed that he is ready to go back to a player he has not selected for the last four years – Stefan Kiessling. The Bayer Leverkusen striker has not been part of the team since 2010, but Loew has not ruled out selecting him in case a need arises.
Chelsea’s Andre Schurrle can also play in this position, but he has found game time limited at Stamford Bridge this season.
“I am ready to reconsider if someone gets injured or has poor form,” said Loew. Klose is very close to beating the record held by Brazilian Ronaldo for the most number of goals at a World Cup. However, he only recently returned to first team action with Lazio after being out for the last few weeks. The 30-year-old Stefan Kiessling has been in fine form for his club this season. He has 13 goals in 27 appearances of all competitions.
Germany will be the favourites to get the victory over England in the friendly match between the two teams at Wembley. England manager Roy Hodgson has to deal with several injury problems in various areas of the pitch, while his compatriot will come with a midfield that is an embarrassment of riches. Despite this, Joachim Loew has said that he feels that he does not have enough strikers at his disposal, which may come to bite him back in this match. Germany is one of the favourites to win the World Cup itself, while England are not anywhere close to it.
The Germans have an impressive midfield that includes players like Mesut Ozil, Thomas Müller, and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Low has revealed prior to the match that the Arsenal star Mesut Ozil will be rested for this encounter along with the likes of Lahm. Even then, he will be able to name a very strong starting line-up.
This will be one of the few opportunities to test his squad ahead of the World Cup and there is a lot of pressure on Low due to the number of goals that Germany have conceded in recent matches. It is unlike the Germans and they would want to keep a clean sheet in order to boost their confidence.
“We have to improve our play in the final third. Against Italy we lacked efficiency. We have to be more efficient, more to the point and maybe we were missing the clinical precision that’s needed at this level. We have to consistently finish. We created opportunities, we also need to aim to finish them to score goals. Especially at World Cup level where you only get one or two chances in a match,” said the German manager ahead of the match, which could inflict England’s first back-to-back home defeats in 36 years.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero recently lost his compatriot Carlos Tevez, whose move to Juventus in a £10 million deal, was one of the high points of the summer. Tevez has been one of the standout performers for the club since his move from Manchester United. Even though he has created several problems during his short stay at the Etihad stadium, he undoubtedly was a major reason in the club winning the Premier league and FA Cup titles the last three years. Despite this, Aguero has said that the club will miss the services of Tevez, but they have enough quality across the squad.
As a replacement for Tevez, City brought in two more strikers in the form of Alvaro Negredo and Jovetic. Former Sevilla striker Negredo has been particularly impressive since the start of the season. He scored in the club’s recent 2-0 win over Hull City. He also scored on his debut against Cardiff, but that ended in a disappointing 3-2 defeat for his team. Even though Tevez was a player that was great to the club, Aguero feels that they should now move on and look forward to the new signings.
Aguero himself was a £ 38 million signing from Athletico Madrid a few seasons ago.
“Carlitos has moved on and he was a great team-mate. He’s going to be missed but we wish him the best in his next step. But I always keep a close eye on Spanish football and Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo were two of its brightest stars. Having them in our side makes us stronger – the same applies to Fernandinho and Stevan. They are amazing players,” said Aguero.
City have made an indifferent start to the new season. Even though they have won two out of the three matches, they have been defeated in the other encounter.
German football federation president Wolfgang Niersbach has revealed that he wants manager Joachim Loew to remain in his position after the end of the 2014 World Cup. The former assistant manager only has a contract up until this tournament and it has been widely speculated that he will leave the national team at the end of it. Even though Loew was heavily praised for his work he carried on from Jurgen Klinsmann, there have been several criticism for the inability to win a major trophy despite possessing a strong squad.
Germany have been one of the best teams at international level in the last few tournaments, but they have been overshadowed by Spain who have been totally dominant. Loew has managed to bring in a group of players who will keep playing for the next decade. Players like Mario Gotze and Thomas Müller are expected to be part of the next era of German domination, but the football Federation wants the team to win a major trophy in order to show for the progress. Niersbach has revealed that he is keen to keep Loew as the national team manager.
Loew extended his contract after the 2010 World Cup. Several losses in the final stage of major tournaments have spoilt his reputation in recent years.
“I really do like the way we are going with Loew. And I know that the DFB board of directors have the same feeling. The most important thing for me is that the coach and the team get on well together and I can see a highly professional job being done. Maybe we qualify in September already and then we can consider whether we do it like in 2008 or like in 2010,” said the German football Federation president.
Germany will next be facing Paraguay in a friendly match.