With the Nationalmannschaft now safely in the mix for next year’s feast of football in Poland and the Ukraine, and I have now switched into another gear in the hope of having a number of key sections of this site
Building up to 2012
Poland v Germany: Kicker’s Ratings
After just over a week, Kicker Online has finally published their in-depth analysis and revealed their player ratings for last Tuesday’s disappointing but always exciting 2-2 draw in Danzig’s shiny new PGE Arena. Let’s see how they compare with my
A Tale of Two Keepers
So to Danzig, and yet another experiment from Nationaltrainer Joachim Löw. Having sent Mesut Özil, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Manuel Neuer back home, one expected a number of changes for the Poland game, but perhaps more surprising was the experimental 4-1-4-1
Six of the best
With seven wins from seven matches, an eighth three-pointer against Austria would guarantee Germany a place at next year’s Euro 2012 finals in Poland and the Ukraine with two games to spare, and they didn’t disappoint what was a sell-out
Trust the Daily Mail…
September 1st 2001. I was on my way home having spent three weeks travelling around Poland, somewhere between Danzig and Koszalin. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Internet, just a ropey mobile telephone connection to my roving text reporter – my
Gómez out, new home kit officially announced…
While the Philipp Lahm story continues with yet more snapshot excerpts from the tabloid Bild, the mundane business of football goes on – and with it the news that Mario Gómez has had to pull out of the national team
Back to business… The squads for Austria and Poland
After the media blow-up that was the Philipp Lahm saga, it’s back to business today with the just-released squad list for the European Championship qualifier against Austria (2nd September) in Gelsenkirchen and the friendly international against Poland (6th September) in
Philipp Lahm: A Very Silly Boy
Another autobiography, another round of controversy – this time from current skipper Philipp Lahm. Those of us who follow the German game closely will know that Lahm is an intelligent, articulate, thoughtful man who wears his heart on his sleeve
Auf Wiedersehen Balla…
When the Nationalmannschaft produced a sparkling display to beat Brazil for the first time in eighteen years yesterday the talk was all about Euro 2012, the dynamic young team and its new starlet Mario Götze. However in the days leading
The Götzinho Show
I am trying something new for the blog this season whenever I can – the “as it happened” match report as opposed to an after-the-event piece. The aim is to try and get the report to have a bit more
Two thirds…
A late and final update on the recent FIFA competitions now, which admittedly went a bit flat after the German women were eliminated in their own tournament by Japan and the Under-17s blew a 2-1 to lose their semi-final to
And in a trice it was over…
Well, a couple of days. In my last blog entry I waxed lyrical about the hopes of the women’s side and the Under 17s… Only to see both campaigns come to a juddering halt.