Auch bekannt als...
12 Nicknames of Former German Football Players
1. Der Kaiser - Franz Beckenbauer
2. Der Afro - Paul Breitner
3. Ennatz ('Zebra') - Bernard Dietz
4. Eisenfuß ('Ironfoot') - Horst-Dieter Höttges
5. Das Kopfball-Ungeheuer ('The Header Beast') - Horst Hrubesch
6. Der Ausserirdische ('The Extra-Terrestrial') - Oliver Kahn
7. Die Katze ('The Cat') - Sepp Maier
8. Der Bomber - Gerd Muller
9. Der Boss - Helmut Rahn
10. Volkswagen - Karl-Heinz Schnellinger
11. Der Blonde Engel ('The Blonde Angel') - Bernd Schuster
12. Der Terrier - Berti Vogts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Friday, 27 March 2009
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Rank out of order
FIFA have just published their latest World Ranking table and one thing is immediately obvious - the effect of Euro 2008 and some of the recent World Cup qualifiers has given the global pecking order a major shake up.
To begin with, European champions Spain (sorry, that still makes us laugh) are the new leaders following last weekend's win in the Final over Germany. They were third last month, but now take top spot from Argentina who drop to SIXTH following two draws in the recent South American qualifiers for South Africa 2010 (more of which follows soon).
Italy move up one place to second, deposing Brazil who drop to fourth (they picked up only one point out of the six available in their recent pair of World Cup matches) and Euro 2008 runners-up Germany climb two places to third.
Of the other teams that featured prominently in Euro 2008, the Netherlands leap from 10th place to 5th, Croatia jump eight places to 7th and Russia surge their way up from 24th to 11th. Turkey are also big winners in the July 2008 rankings, moving up from 20th to 14th.
Naturally enough, those teams who failed to impress (and we're looking at you, France, the Czech Republic and Greece) all fell further down the pecking order. Greece, European champions in 2004, suffered particularly badly after their First Round exit in 2008, falling ten places to 18th.
But for a team that wasn't even involved in Euro 2008, it's England that's stolen all the headlines. They're now ranked 15TH having played only friendlies since November 2007 - a drop of six places. That puts them just one place above Scotland, who move up a position, and just five above Ghana.
A special mention this month, though, goes to Suriname, the small South American country who rose 58 places to 87th in this month's FIFA World Rankings. A recent win in both legs of their recent World Cup qualifier over Guyana means Suriname (population: 470,000) are now ranked just four places below China (population: 1.3 billion).
Fabio Capello, you've seen how it's done...
To begin with, European champions Spain (sorry, that still makes us laugh) are the new leaders following last weekend's win in the Final over Germany. They were third last month, but now take top spot from Argentina who drop to SIXTH following two draws in the recent South American qualifiers for South Africa 2010 (more of which follows soon).
Italy move up one place to second, deposing Brazil who drop to fourth (they picked up only one point out of the six available in their recent pair of World Cup matches) and Euro 2008 runners-up Germany climb two places to third.
Of the other teams that featured prominently in Euro 2008, the Netherlands leap from 10th place to 5th, Croatia jump eight places to 7th and Russia surge their way up from 24th to 11th. Turkey are also big winners in the July 2008 rankings, moving up from 20th to 14th.
Naturally enough, those teams who failed to impress (and we're looking at you, France, the Czech Republic and Greece) all fell further down the pecking order. Greece, European champions in 2004, suffered particularly badly after their First Round exit in 2008, falling ten places to 18th.
But for a team that wasn't even involved in Euro 2008, it's England that's stolen all the headlines. They're now ranked 15TH having played only friendlies since November 2007 - a drop of six places. That puts them just one place above Scotland, who move up a position, and just five above Ghana.
A special mention this month, though, goes to Suriname, the small South American country who rose 58 places to 87th in this month's FIFA World Rankings. A recent win in both legs of their recent World Cup qualifier over Guyana means Suriname (population: 470,000) are now ranked just four places below China (population: 1.3 billion).
Fabio Capello, you've seen how it's done...
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
What next for the Euro finalists?
Euro 2008, one of the most enthralling international tournaments in living memory from David Villa's hat-trick - one of only eight in the competition's history - to Turkey's great late shows against the Czech Republic and Croatia, the early departures of once great nations in Italy and France to the eventual crowning of Europe's new power - Spain. This tournament which, as highlighted in an earlier post by one of my colleagues, began at a rather laboured pace when the Swiss took on the Czechs but quickly became illuminated by performances of the highest quality, is now sadly over.
Of the 22 which took to the field for the final on Sunday night, just three plied their trade in the English Premier League which begs the question, 'Of the remaining bright lights, should we be expecting any to jump ship and head to Blighty?'
Of course it would be a great shame to see either of the aforementioned trio leave this Summer but at the same time I personally cannot see Ballack, Fabregas or Torres going anywhere anytime soon.Let's start with the players of the tournament.
A nine-strong panel selected Xavi Hernandez as their key man and the Barcelona man will no doubt be attracting the attention of Europe's elite. This guy is Barcelona through and through after spending his entire career at the club. Although his contract does carry a buy-out clause, it is set at a massive £100 million - a price which will not be met for this 28-year-old midfielder.
What about the transfer rumours, though? Although there were whispers abound that Avram Grant's Chelsea were keen to sign the Barca star back in March, since then there has been very little in terms of movement. Be that due to Grant's departure or the apparently imminent capture of Deco by the Blues no-one really knows but it looks as though classy Xavi will be staying with Barca with his agent Ivan Corretja claiming that:
"Xavi has a deal until June 2012 and is happy at Barca. The decision about a possible exit is Barcelona's."
Okay so the player of the tournament looks like he will be staying put but what about the best of the rest?
Well we should check out the transfer odds firstly and it looks as though there has been heavy movement for Liverpool to clinch a double signing of club-mates David Silva and golden-boot winner David Villa although their performances over the past month will surely have boosted their transfer value regardless of Valencia's current financial strife.
Let's start with Villa (right) because this guy looks as though he's had more clubs sniffing round him than a dolled-up poodle at the Crufts after-party.
Their have been rumours that Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United have all shown an interest in the striker with figures from £17 million - the supposed asking price - to £30 million being thrown around.
It is likely that Villa will be moving this Summer. His club side Valencia didn't exactly avoid the drop by the skin of their teeth but the Spanish striker will be looking for Champions League football next season and Valencia cannot offer him this.
In my opinion this means that Spurs are out of the running to land the players but with Luka Modric and Dos Santos already joining the North Londoners, I could be proved wrong as Juande Ramos continues to attract big names to the capital.
A sum around £23 million for this guy would be a bargain for any of the top teams in England and a joint bid in the region of £40 million would surely seal his buddy Silva's signature into the bargain too.
The rumour mill has been extremely quiet on the Silva front but both The Sun and The Mirror in England have claimed recently that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is after the highly-rated attacking midfielder. I believe a clever footy bet should be put on this guy heading over from the Med with Villa in tow.
What about their German counterparts then? Well Werder Bremen playmaker Torsten Frings has been making waves - actually more like ripples - in the market after being named as a surprise target for Arsene Wenger. At the ripe old age of 31 he is much older than many of the Gunner's usual options but it is believed that Wenger wants the German to replace Flamini in the heart of Arsenal's midfield and at £4 million it could prove to be the bargain of the Summer. Mind you many said that about Mateja Kezman...
One of Germany's most consistent performers in this tournament was one Bastian Schweinsteiger (right), after being sent off against Croatia the influencial midfielder came back with a bang, scoring the opening goal of their quarter-final encounter with Portugal and scoring their equaliser against Turkey in their semi-final.
The bottle blonde was out of favour for Bayern Munich last season with the likes of Tim Borowski and in-form Franck Ribery further up the pecking order.
He may not be the biggest of players but his strength on the ball and ability to pick out the killer pass would be something which any team in the Premiership would be more than welcoming to his skills and I believe this would greatly improve their odds of success next term. Following his fall from grace with Munich his valuation has dropped significantly from the £30 million mark bandied about a couple of years back and even after a great Euro campaign an offer around £16 million should force the German clubs hand.
There are of course plenty of other names which could feasibly make a move to England this Summer but I can't really see the likes of Puyol, Podolski or Ramos heading our way before the start of next season - unless that is, Roman Abramovich has, let's say, a spare £100 million down the back of his luxury lazy-boy?
Of the 22 which took to the field for the final on Sunday night, just three plied their trade in the English Premier League which begs the question, 'Of the remaining bright lights, should we be expecting any to jump ship and head to Blighty?'
Of course it would be a great shame to see either of the aforementioned trio leave this Summer but at the same time I personally cannot see Ballack, Fabregas or Torres going anywhere anytime soon.Let's start with the players of the tournament.
A nine-strong panel selected Xavi Hernandez as their key man and the Barcelona man will no doubt be attracting the attention of Europe's elite. This guy is Barcelona through and through after spending his entire career at the club. Although his contract does carry a buy-out clause, it is set at a massive £100 million - a price which will not be met for this 28-year-old midfielder.
What about the transfer rumours, though? Although there were whispers abound that Avram Grant's Chelsea were keen to sign the Barca star back in March, since then there has been very little in terms of movement. Be that due to Grant's departure or the apparently imminent capture of Deco by the Blues no-one really knows but it looks as though classy Xavi will be staying with Barca with his agent Ivan Corretja claiming that:
"Xavi has a deal until June 2012 and is happy at Barca. The decision about a possible exit is Barcelona's."
Okay so the player of the tournament looks like he will be staying put but what about the best of the rest?
Well we should check out the transfer odds firstly and it looks as though there has been heavy movement for Liverpool to clinch a double signing of club-mates David Silva and golden-boot winner David Villa although their performances over the past month will surely have boosted their transfer value regardless of Valencia's current financial strife.
Let's start with Villa (right) because this guy looks as though he's had more clubs sniffing round him than a dolled-up poodle at the Crufts after-party.
Their have been rumours that Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United have all shown an interest in the striker with figures from £17 million - the supposed asking price - to £30 million being thrown around.
It is likely that Villa will be moving this Summer. His club side Valencia didn't exactly avoid the drop by the skin of their teeth but the Spanish striker will be looking for Champions League football next season and Valencia cannot offer him this.
In my opinion this means that Spurs are out of the running to land the players but with Luka Modric and Dos Santos already joining the North Londoners, I could be proved wrong as Juande Ramos continues to attract big names to the capital.
A sum around £23 million for this guy would be a bargain for any of the top teams in England and a joint bid in the region of £40 million would surely seal his buddy Silva's signature into the bargain too.
The rumour mill has been extremely quiet on the Silva front but both The Sun and The Mirror in England have claimed recently that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is after the highly-rated attacking midfielder. I believe a clever footy bet should be put on this guy heading over from the Med with Villa in tow.
What about their German counterparts then? Well Werder Bremen playmaker Torsten Frings has been making waves - actually more like ripples - in the market after being named as a surprise target for Arsene Wenger. At the ripe old age of 31 he is much older than many of the Gunner's usual options but it is believed that Wenger wants the German to replace Flamini in the heart of Arsenal's midfield and at £4 million it could prove to be the bargain of the Summer. Mind you many said that about Mateja Kezman...
One of Germany's most consistent performers in this tournament was one Bastian Schweinsteiger (right), after being sent off against Croatia the influencial midfielder came back with a bang, scoring the opening goal of their quarter-final encounter with Portugal and scoring their equaliser against Turkey in their semi-final.
The bottle blonde was out of favour for Bayern Munich last season with the likes of Tim Borowski and in-form Franck Ribery further up the pecking order.
He may not be the biggest of players but his strength on the ball and ability to pick out the killer pass would be something which any team in the Premiership would be more than welcoming to his skills and I believe this would greatly improve their odds of success next term. Following his fall from grace with Munich his valuation has dropped significantly from the £30 million mark bandied about a couple of years back and even after a great Euro campaign an offer around £16 million should force the German clubs hand.
There are of course plenty of other names which could feasibly make a move to England this Summer but I can't really see the likes of Puyol, Podolski or Ramos heading our way before the start of next season - unless that is, Roman Abramovich has, let's say, a spare £100 million down the back of his luxury lazy-boy?
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Cordoba
People have been remembering the Anschluss Game ahead of tonight's Austria v Germany fixture, indeed ahead of the tournament, and with good cause. For the uninitiated, the name refers to West Germany and Austria contriving a 1-0 victory for the Germans during the group stages of the 1982 World Cup. The result meant that both teams progressed to the second round of the tournament and is, rightly, derided as the game's nadir - on the pitch at least.
However, for those who listened to the Guardian Podcast recorded in the streets of Vienna on the night of Austria's draw with Poland, the chants among the Austrians were of "Córdoba". This is not a reference to where they intend to holiday in Spain, but to the Argentine city where Austria famously dispatched West Germany in a rare victory during the 1978 World Cup. An Austrian name that may resonate to outsiders is Hans Krankl who scored 34 goals in 69 matches for his country and it was he that scored two goals on that day against the world champions, including the winner.
The Germans went a goal up. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's beautiful strike came after some breathtaking build up play instigated from the German's own half. It was another German who equalized. Berti Vogts could not deal with a cross and put the ball through his own net. Austria then took the lead with a lovely strike from Krankl. He took the ball from a left-sided Eddie Krieger cross into the area, turned and stuck the ball past Sepp Maier.
However, as the English media frequently point out, the Germans do not know when they are beaten (which by the way is contrary to what history tells us, but I digress). Bernd Holzenbein's header from a free kick leveled things up before Krankl sealed his place in history. Rainer Bonhof failed to cut out a long ball to Krankl on the left. With plenty of space in front of him, Krankl surged into the penalty area, beat a diving defender and calmly slotted the ball past the hapless Maier to score.
The match is also known as the Miracle Of Córdoba in clear reference to West Germany's Miracle of Berne where, against the odds, the German's won the 1954 World Cup against the Magnificent Magyars. There is even a legendary piece of commentary to go with Krankl's winner. The gloriously named Edi Finger screamed "Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! I am going crazy!" which has echoes of German broadcaster Herbert Zimmerman's legendary radio commentary in Berne 1954 ("Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal!... Call me mad, call me crazy!")
The result put West Germany out of the tournament and remains one of the finest moments in Austrian football history (probably). It is the memory of this result that the Austrian supporters will be invoking and the players will be trying to emulate tonight in the hope of creating their very own Miracle Of Vienna.
Watch the goals (and listen to the commentary) on YouTube.
However, for those who listened to the Guardian Podcast recorded in the streets of Vienna on the night of Austria's draw with Poland, the chants among the Austrians were of "Córdoba". This is not a reference to where they intend to holiday in Spain, but to the Argentine city where Austria famously dispatched West Germany in a rare victory during the 1978 World Cup. An Austrian name that may resonate to outsiders is Hans Krankl who scored 34 goals in 69 matches for his country and it was he that scored two goals on that day against the world champions, including the winner.
The Germans went a goal up. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's beautiful strike came after some breathtaking build up play instigated from the German's own half. It was another German who equalized. Berti Vogts could not deal with a cross and put the ball through his own net. Austria then took the lead with a lovely strike from Krankl. He took the ball from a left-sided Eddie Krieger cross into the area, turned and stuck the ball past Sepp Maier.
However, as the English media frequently point out, the Germans do not know when they are beaten (which by the way is contrary to what history tells us, but I digress). Bernd Holzenbein's header from a free kick leveled things up before Krankl sealed his place in history. Rainer Bonhof failed to cut out a long ball to Krankl on the left. With plenty of space in front of him, Krankl surged into the penalty area, beat a diving defender and calmly slotted the ball past the hapless Maier to score.
The match is also known as the Miracle Of Córdoba in clear reference to West Germany's Miracle of Berne where, against the odds, the German's won the 1954 World Cup against the Magnificent Magyars. There is even a legendary piece of commentary to go with Krankl's winner. The gloriously named Edi Finger screamed "Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! I am going crazy!" which has echoes of German broadcaster Herbert Zimmerman's legendary radio commentary in Berne 1954 ("Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal!... Call me mad, call me crazy!")
The result put West Germany out of the tournament and remains one of the finest moments in Austrian football history (probably). It is the memory of this result that the Austrian supporters will be invoking and the players will be trying to emulate tonight in the hope of creating their very own Miracle Of Vienna.
Watch the goals (and listen to the commentary) on YouTube.
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Euro 2008: Guide to Group B
Group B
If Group C is the group of football death then B is the group of actual death. If proceedings are handled badly we could be looking at a new European War stretching from the Ruhr Valley to the Balkans via the Baltic Sea. Thank God England didn't finish top of their qualifying group. Imagine being shoved in with that lot?
Austria
Qualifying
No qualifying for the Austrians. They're the co-hosts, you see. It’s a privilege given to only a select few countries, namely those with the biggest, most bulging brown envelopes addressed to Michel Platini, c/o UEFA.
How the mighty have fallen
Once upon a time, Austria were one of the kings of world football. Go back to any year between 1930's and 1950's and you'll have seen them giving almost anyone a decent match. Even in the 70's and 80's they were still getting to the World Cup Finals and when FIFA introduced their World Rankings, they registered a high water mark of 17th in June 1999 (see graph, above).
Nowadays, they're ranked 92nd below such giants of the game as Mozambique, Guatemala and Qatar and last month they reached an all-time low of 101st. The only way is up, as they say...
Players you might have heard of
Between the sticks there's former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger (now playing for Siena in Italy) and in defence we have Middlesbrough's Emanuel Pogatetz.
Players you won't be seeing
Wigan's Paul Scharner. Having made twelve appearances for the Austrian team, he had a major falling out with current coach Josef Hickersberger and called his country's F.A. setup a shambles. Despite attempts to rebuild bridges with Hickersberger, he remained absent from the Austria squad for Euro 2008 promptung Scharner to call time on his international career.
Recent friendlies
March 26: Austria 3 Netherlands 4
May 27: Austria 1 Nigeria 1
May 30: Austria 5 Malta 1
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Martin Stranzl. For a team that's going to have to defend like fury against the might of Germany and Croatia, their 6 ft 4 inch centre back is going to have to be on his mettle in no uncertain terms. He can also score the occasional goal, too, as he's proved at 1860 Munich, Stuttgart, Spartak Moscow (his current club) and in the international side.
Croatia
Qualifying
Us English know all too well how the Croatians did in qualifying. They topped the group by five clear points ahead of Russia having lost only one of their twelve games. Key to their success was Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva who bagged ten goals, but after breaking his leg in the Premier League, he'll be noticeably absent over the next few weeks.
Current Form
Despite an emphatic qualifying round, they're finding life without a prolific forward not so easy. In the four friendlies since the 3-2 defeat of England that clinched their place at the Euro's, they've won just one and scored only three. Worrying…
Players you might have heard of
Aside from coach Slaven Bilic, who fans of West Ham and Everton will remember fondly, the squad boasts Manchester City's Vedran Corluka in defence and Portsmouth's Niko Kranjcar in midfield.
Recent friendlies
March 26: Scotland 1 Croatia 1
May 24: Croatia 1 Moldova 0
May 31: Hungary 1 Croatia 1
A small price to pay
Clubs and countries were on high alert recently when it became clear that Slaven Bilic's contract with the Croatian FA was about to run out when Euro 2008 was over. Given the fact that he was earning a paltry £35,000 a year, it's fair to say that he could easily earn a higher wage elsewhere but Bilic made a big commitment to the Croatian team by agreeing to renew his contract unconditionally until 2010.
Curiously he left it to his employers to award him a salary they thought was appropriate given his recent successes, but did make one stipulation - that his assistants be given a considerable wage. Robert Prosinecki is one of those that fits into that category and to date he hasn't earned a single penny for helping out his former Croatia team-mate
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
In the absence of Eduardo, the man being asked to step into his boots will be Luka Modric. The Dinamo Zagreb midfielder has the critics cooing over him something rotten. He's got a powerful right foot, can distribute the ball better than most and has been likened to none other than Johann Cruyff. "He's hard even to foul" said Bilic.
Germany
Qualifying
Some people have made big news of the fact that Germany only finished second in Group D behind the Czechs, but we think that's poppycock. The fact of the matter is Germany were the first to qualify from the group (maybe even the whole competition, if we remember rightly) and did so before Euro 2000 had even finished. More or less.
Oh yes - and they beat San Marino 13-0 as well.
Kit check
Germany do love their kits and you only have to go back to the 1980's to see a wide range of styles and designs to suit every taste. For Euro 2008, however, they've gone for a very bold black stripe across that famous white shirt. We're sure they've used the black stripe thing before now - perhaps back in the days before the Second World War - but we can find no evidence to prove it. Perhaps we're thinking of the German athletics team or something.
Anyway, if you think the white-with-a-black-stripe effect is bold, wait til you see the change strip. It features a red shirt with a broad black stripe running down the middle from top to bottom (see above). Apparently we've got Jurgen Klinsmann to blame for the switch from green to red. He figured that teams wearing red were statistically more successful than any other. It certainly worked for England in 1966...
Clear-cut favourites?
Even though everyone and his dog seems to be backing the Germans to win Euro 2008, there seems to be plenty of reasons not to. For a start, the squad contains many young players that lack a decent amount of experience on the international stage.
Of those that do have the experience of playing for their country, many, ironically, haven't been playing much for their clubs of late, and one key example is Jens Lehmann. He's just signed for Stuttgart after a season of only sporadic appearances for Arsenal, and his lack of regular match practice will be shared by other members of the squad like Christoph Metzelder, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. Whether their undoubted star qualities will shine through anyway remains to be seen, but we won't bet the house on a German tournament win just yet if it's all the same with you...
Recent friendlies
March 26: Switzerland 0 Germany 4
May 27: Germany 2 Belarus 2
May 31: Germany 2 Serbia 1
Players you might have heard of
We've already mentioned Lehmann and Ballack, so that just leaves Thomas Hitzlsperger as a remaining Premier League stalwart to bring to your attention. He's the former Aston Villa midfielder with a blistering left-foot shot which these days helps him bag goals a-plenty at Stuttgart. He may only be used as a replacement for Torsten Frings, but what a good alternative to have, we say.
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Michael Ballack. Yeah yeah, you know who he is and all that, but he's arguably the one main talent that the German team is based around, thanks to his goalscoring ability, experience and skill at distributing the ball to all parts of the team. And he takes a mean penalty, too.
Poland
Qualifying
What can we say... the arrival of coach Leo Beenhakker signalled a renewed sense of inner belief for the Poles during qualifying. After losing their first match 3-1 to Finland, they went on to top Group A ahead of Portugal, Serbia and the Finns. A particularly impressive 2-1 win over Portugal to accompany their previous 1-1 says everything you need to know - that Poland are capable of great things this summer. However...
Current form
'Iffy' would be a good way to describe it. Since qualifying for the finals last October, Poland have struggled to maintain the convincing form they'd shown previously. At the start of the year they beat the Czechs 2-0 in Cyprus but then lost 2-0 to the USA at home.
More recently they've scored three goals in their last three games during which they could only draw with Macedonia and scrape past Albania with a 1-0 win. Do we here the sound of wheels coming off?
Players you might have heard of
Several to choose from here. For a start, take your pick from all three goalkeepers well known to British fans - Arsenal's Lukasz Fabianski, Man United's Tomasz Kuszczak and Celtic's Artur Boruc.
Up front, Celtic fans will also recognise Maciej Zurawski - now at Larisa in Greece - plus there's Southampton striker Marek Saganowski.
Recent friendlies
May 26: Macedonia 1 Poland 1
May 27: Albania 0 Poland 1
June 1: Poland 1 Denmark 1
A man of some experience
What about that coach, eh? Leo Beenhakker - the man with a CV longer than Ruud van Nistelrooy's face. He's been everywhere and done everything during his career, so let's take a roll call of all the places where 'Don Leo' has brought his unique brand of leadership...
1972-1975 SC Cambuur; 1975-1976 Go Ahead Eagles; 1979-1981 Ajax; 1981-1984 Real Zaragoza; 1985 FC Volendam; 1985-1986 Netherlands; 1986-1989 Real Madrid; 1989-1991 Ajax; 1990 Netherlands; 1992 Real Madrid; 1992-1993 Grasshoppers Zürich; 1993-1994 Saudi Arabia; 1994-1995 Club América; 1995-1996 İstanbulspor A.Ş.; 1996 Guadalajara; 1996-1997 Vitesse; 1997-2000 Feyenoord; 2000-2003 Ajax; 2003-2004 Club América; 2004-2005 De Graafschap; 2005-2006 Trinidad and Tobago; 2006- Poland.
Marvellous.
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Euzebiusz Smolarek. Scorer of nine goals during the qualifiers and a man of some considerable footballing pedigree. He was named after Portuguese legend Eusebio by his father who himself was no mug. Wlodzimierz Smolarek played for the Poland team that finished third at the 1982 World Cup and was the last Pole to score against Portugal before his son replicated the feat in October 2006.
If Group C is the group of football death then B is the group of actual death. If proceedings are handled badly we could be looking at a new European War stretching from the Ruhr Valley to the Balkans via the Baltic Sea. Thank God England didn't finish top of their qualifying group. Imagine being shoved in with that lot?
Austria
Qualifying
No qualifying for the Austrians. They're the co-hosts, you see. It’s a privilege given to only a select few countries, namely those with the biggest, most bulging brown envelopes addressed to Michel Platini, c/o UEFA.
How the mighty have fallen
Once upon a time, Austria were one of the kings of world football. Go back to any year between 1930's and 1950's and you'll have seen them giving almost anyone a decent match. Even in the 70's and 80's they were still getting to the World Cup Finals and when FIFA introduced their World Rankings, they registered a high water mark of 17th in June 1999 (see graph, above).Nowadays, they're ranked 92nd below such giants of the game as Mozambique, Guatemala and Qatar and last month they reached an all-time low of 101st. The only way is up, as they say...
Players you might have heard of
Between the sticks there's former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger (now playing for Siena in Italy) and in defence we have Middlesbrough's Emanuel Pogatetz.
Players you won't be seeing
Wigan's Paul Scharner. Having made twelve appearances for the Austrian team, he had a major falling out with current coach Josef Hickersberger and called his country's F.A. setup a shambles. Despite attempts to rebuild bridges with Hickersberger, he remained absent from the Austria squad for Euro 2008 promptung Scharner to call time on his international career.
Recent friendlies
March 26: Austria 3 Netherlands 4
May 27: Austria 1 Nigeria 1
May 30: Austria 5 Malta 1
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Martin Stranzl. For a team that's going to have to defend like fury against the might of Germany and Croatia, their 6 ft 4 inch centre back is going to have to be on his mettle in no uncertain terms. He can also score the occasional goal, too, as he's proved at 1860 Munich, Stuttgart, Spartak Moscow (his current club) and in the international side.
Croatia
Qualifying
Us English know all too well how the Croatians did in qualifying. They topped the group by five clear points ahead of Russia having lost only one of their twelve games. Key to their success was Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva who bagged ten goals, but after breaking his leg in the Premier League, he'll be noticeably absent over the next few weeks.
Current Form
Despite an emphatic qualifying round, they're finding life without a prolific forward not so easy. In the four friendlies since the 3-2 defeat of England that clinched their place at the Euro's, they've won just one and scored only three. Worrying…
Players you might have heard of
Aside from coach Slaven Bilic, who fans of West Ham and Everton will remember fondly, the squad boasts Manchester City's Vedran Corluka in defence and Portsmouth's Niko Kranjcar in midfield.
Recent friendlies
March 26: Scotland 1 Croatia 1
May 24: Croatia 1 Moldova 0
May 31: Hungary 1 Croatia 1
A small price to pay
Clubs and countries were on high alert recently when it became clear that Slaven Bilic's contract with the Croatian FA was about to run out when Euro 2008 was over. Given the fact that he was earning a paltry £35,000 a year, it's fair to say that he could easily earn a higher wage elsewhere but Bilic made a big commitment to the Croatian team by agreeing to renew his contract unconditionally until 2010.
Curiously he left it to his employers to award him a salary they thought was appropriate given his recent successes, but did make one stipulation - that his assistants be given a considerable wage. Robert Prosinecki is one of those that fits into that category and to date he hasn't earned a single penny for helping out his former Croatia team-mate
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
In the absence of Eduardo, the man being asked to step into his boots will be Luka Modric. The Dinamo Zagreb midfielder has the critics cooing over him something rotten. He's got a powerful right foot, can distribute the ball better than most and has been likened to none other than Johann Cruyff. "He's hard even to foul" said Bilic.
Germany
Qualifying
Some people have made big news of the fact that Germany only finished second in Group D behind the Czechs, but we think that's poppycock. The fact of the matter is Germany were the first to qualify from the group (maybe even the whole competition, if we remember rightly) and did so before Euro 2000 had even finished. More or less.
Oh yes - and they beat San Marino 13-0 as well.
Kit check
Germany do love their kits and you only have to go back to the 1980's to see a wide range of styles and designs to suit every taste. For Euro 2008, however, they've gone for a very bold black stripe across that famous white shirt. We're sure they've used the black stripe thing before now - perhaps back in the days before the Second World War - but we can find no evidence to prove it. Perhaps we're thinking of the German athletics team or something.
Anyway, if you think the white-with-a-black-stripe effect is bold, wait til you see the change strip. It features a red shirt with a broad black stripe running down the middle from top to bottom (see above). Apparently we've got Jurgen Klinsmann to blame for the switch from green to red. He figured that teams wearing red were statistically more successful than any other. It certainly worked for England in 1966...
Clear-cut favourites?
Even though everyone and his dog seems to be backing the Germans to win Euro 2008, there seems to be plenty of reasons not to. For a start, the squad contains many young players that lack a decent amount of experience on the international stage.
Of those that do have the experience of playing for their country, many, ironically, haven't been playing much for their clubs of late, and one key example is Jens Lehmann. He's just signed for Stuttgart after a season of only sporadic appearances for Arsenal, and his lack of regular match practice will be shared by other members of the squad like Christoph Metzelder, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. Whether their undoubted star qualities will shine through anyway remains to be seen, but we won't bet the house on a German tournament win just yet if it's all the same with you...
Recent friendlies
March 26: Switzerland 0 Germany 4
May 27: Germany 2 Belarus 2
May 31: Germany 2 Serbia 1
Players you might have heard of
We've already mentioned Lehmann and Ballack, so that just leaves Thomas Hitzlsperger as a remaining Premier League stalwart to bring to your attention. He's the former Aston Villa midfielder with a blistering left-foot shot which these days helps him bag goals a-plenty at Stuttgart. He may only be used as a replacement for Torsten Frings, but what a good alternative to have, we say.
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Michael Ballack. Yeah yeah, you know who he is and all that, but he's arguably the one main talent that the German team is based around, thanks to his goalscoring ability, experience and skill at distributing the ball to all parts of the team. And he takes a mean penalty, too.
Poland
Qualifying
What can we say... the arrival of coach Leo Beenhakker signalled a renewed sense of inner belief for the Poles during qualifying. After losing their first match 3-1 to Finland, they went on to top Group A ahead of Portugal, Serbia and the Finns. A particularly impressive 2-1 win over Portugal to accompany their previous 1-1 says everything you need to know - that Poland are capable of great things this summer. However...
Current form
'Iffy' would be a good way to describe it. Since qualifying for the finals last October, Poland have struggled to maintain the convincing form they'd shown previously. At the start of the year they beat the Czechs 2-0 in Cyprus but then lost 2-0 to the USA at home.
More recently they've scored three goals in their last three games during which they could only draw with Macedonia and scrape past Albania with a 1-0 win. Do we here the sound of wheels coming off?
Players you might have heard of
Several to choose from here. For a start, take your pick from all three goalkeepers well known to British fans - Arsenal's Lukasz Fabianski, Man United's Tomasz Kuszczak and Celtic's Artur Boruc.
Up front, Celtic fans will also recognise Maciej Zurawski - now at Larisa in Greece - plus there's Southampton striker Marek Saganowski.
Recent friendlies
May 26: Macedonia 1 Poland 1
May 27: Albania 0 Poland 1
June 1: Poland 1 Denmark 1
A man of some experience
What about that coach, eh? Leo Beenhakker - the man with a CV longer than Ruud van Nistelrooy's face. He's been everywhere and done everything during his career, so let's take a roll call of all the places where 'Don Leo' has brought his unique brand of leadership...
1972-1975 SC Cambuur; 1975-1976 Go Ahead Eagles; 1979-1981 Ajax; 1981-1984 Real Zaragoza; 1985 FC Volendam; 1985-1986 Netherlands; 1986-1989 Real Madrid; 1989-1991 Ajax; 1990 Netherlands; 1992 Real Madrid; 1992-1993 Grasshoppers Zürich; 1993-1994 Saudi Arabia; 1994-1995 Club América; 1995-1996 İstanbulspor A.Ş.; 1996 Guadalajara; 1996-1997 Vitesse; 1997-2000 Feyenoord; 2000-2003 Ajax; 2003-2004 Club América; 2004-2005 De Graafschap; 2005-2006 Trinidad and Tobago; 2006- Poland.
Marvellous.
SPAOTP's Top Tip For Greatness
Euzebiusz Smolarek. Scorer of nine goals during the qualifiers and a man of some considerable footballing pedigree. He was named after Portuguese legend Eusebio by his father who himself was no mug. Wlodzimierz Smolarek played for the Poland team that finished third at the 1982 World Cup and was the last Pole to score against Portugal before his son replicated the feat in October 2006.
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
And now, a choice of viewing...
With a matter of minutes to go before England play Germany at the new Wembley Stadium, it's hardly surprising to see the BBC frothing at the mouth at the prospect of another blood-boiling encounter with the old enemy. With all that history between the two sides, they'll be at each other's throats tonight, won't they?
Er, I doubt it. It's a friendly, and about as meaningless as they come. Anyone thinking it'll be 1966 all over again are sadly mistaken.
Better, then, to think of that great game in the iconic way many of us English fans always do... immortalised as a game of Subbuteo. If for some reason you're struggling to create that image in your mind, here's some help, courtesy of an old friend of the site - Flicktokick...
...and if that's given you a taste for great games played in Subbuteo form, here's the classic match between England and Scotland from 1967, again played at the old Wembley Stadium, courtesy of Flicktokick (and by the way - that's him in the Scotland shirt...)
Our thanks go to Flicktokick for allowing us to show you these excellent films - we hope you enjoyed them!
Er, I doubt it. It's a friendly, and about as meaningless as they come. Anyone thinking it'll be 1966 all over again are sadly mistaken.
Better, then, to think of that great game in the iconic way many of us English fans always do... immortalised as a game of Subbuteo. If for some reason you're struggling to create that image in your mind, here's some help, courtesy of an old friend of the site - Flicktokick...
...and if that's given you a taste for great games played in Subbuteo form, here's the classic match between England and Scotland from 1967, again played at the old Wembley Stadium, courtesy of Flicktokick (and by the way - that's him in the Scotland shirt...)
Our thanks go to Flicktokick for allowing us to show you these excellent films - we hope you enjoyed them!
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