Tag: germany

SPURS TO SELL ACADEMY PRODUCT TO SLOVENIA

Slovenian outfit Olimpija Ljubljana have acquired Tottenham academy product Nathan Oduwa on a permanent deal, according to the club’s official twitter handle.


The Premier League side agreed to sell of the player to the PrvaLiga defending champions as negotiations were mutually beneficent.

“We have reached agreement with Slovenian top-flight side Olimpija Ljubjana for the transfer of Nathan Oduwa. We wish Nathan all the best,” the tweet from @SpursOfficial read.

Before now there were reports that both sides were discussing transfers. The 20-year old made the headlines last year when he did rainbow flicks whilst on half-season loan to Rangers FC. The Scottish side were in the second division then with Mark Warburton managing them. His moves angered the player there. He spent some time there but he gradually faded into the background.Read More

German public seems not Panicking

There is no rush in the German public to buy tickets of the coming Finland fixture which is going to be the final hurrah for one of their favourite sons, Bastian Schweinsteiger.


More than forty thousand seats are available in the stadium the match has been designated to, but, not even 50% of the total seats have been reserved up to this point and Joachim Low reckons it will really be a sorrowful situation if the seats happen to be empty on the evening of the match.

As stated by Low, what may happen to be the reason for a poor turn-out is that it’s not the best of the timings for a match like this as people have had a full dose of Football with a couple of big competitions taking place in the recent times in the form of Euro and Olympics and the domestic season has got off to a start too.

Low revealed that he got a call from Schweinsteiger earlier this month and as soon as he heard from him about his decision, he right away made the promise to the playmaker that the farewell match was surely going to be organized for him.
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GOMEZ COMEBACK

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.

STRENGTH IN DEPTH

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 ARE TIPPED

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.