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Group A Team Profiles: Germany | Costa Rica | Poland | Ecuador

Germany

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Germany team kit

With three world titles to their name, Germany are one of the great football nations of the world. A German team has played in every FIFA World Cup™ finals, except the 1930 and 1950 tournaments, and they boast an outstanding record of success.

In 1954, the famous 'Walter's Eleven' raised the trophy for the then West Germany for the first time, defeating seemingly invincible Hungary 3-2 in the final in the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, Switzerland. Fritz Walter, Helmut Rahn and the rest of the team became idols and standard bearers for a whole country.

Twenty years later Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller led the West Germans to FIFA World Cup glory again, this time on home turf. 'Kaiser' Beckenbauer captained the hosts in a riveting final against a brilliant Netherlands side. Johan Neeskens put the Dutch ahead, but Paul Breitner equalised, paving the way for Muller, the greatest German striker of all time, to score the winning goal in a 2-1 victory. It was magical stuff for German supporters and football fans everywhere.

Germany's third and most recent FIFA World Cup triumph came in 1990 in Italy after successive defeats in the finals of 1982, when they lost 3-1 to Italy in Spain, and 1986, when Argentina saw them off 3-2 in Mexico. Beckenbauer played a key role again, this time as coach to the squad captained by Lothar Matthaus. In the final, Andreas Brehme converted a penalty against Argentina, giving Germany a 1-0 win and restoring honour after their defeat by the Gauchos four years earlier.

An unremarkable decade on the world stage followed before Germany bounced back with a vengeance at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™, battling to the final only to go down 2-0 to Brazil. The runners-up spot still represented a sensational achievement for Rudi Voller's men just two years after a dismal UEFA EURO 2000 campaign in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The 1996 European champions fared poorly at EURO 2004 in Portugal and Voller resigned following his side's ignominious group stage exit, making way for a new coaching crew headed by Voller's former international strike partner Jurgen Klinsmann, who set his sights high right from the start. "Our target is to win the World Cup," the new man declared on taking the helm.

German hopes rest squarely on the shoulders of Bayern Munich playmaker Michael Ballack, as the national captain seeks to inspire the youngsters around him with his experience and class. Rising stars such as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski impressed at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005, unleashing a wave of euphoria among the home faithful. Germany finished third after a narrow 3-2 defeat by Brazil in the semi-finals, boosting hopes of stirring performance at the 'main event' in summer 2006.

Germany Matches

Match # Date & Time Group Teams Result Venue
1 Fri 9th Jun 18:00 A  GER  CRC 4 - 2 Munich
17 Wed 14th Jun 21:00 A  GER  POL 1 - 0 Dortmund
33 Tue 20th Jun 16:00 A  ECU  GER 0 - 3 Berlin
49 Sat 24th Jun 17:00 R2  GER  SWE 2 - 0 Munich
57 Fri 30th Jun 17:00 QF  GER  ARG 1 - 1 aet
4 - 2 pen		 Berlin
61 Tue 4th Jul 21:00 SF  GER  ITA 0 - 2 aet Dortmund
63 Sat 8th Jul 21:00 PO  GER  POR 3 - 1 Stuttgart

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

Key Players

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Squad

Total World Cup 2006
# Posn Name DOB Club Caps Goals Pld Goals OG YC RC
1 GK Lehmann Jens 10-11-1969 Arsenal ENG 40 0 6 0 0 0 0
2 DF Jansen Marcell 04-11-1985 B. Moenchengladbach GER 8 0 1 0 0 0 0
3 DF Friedrich Arne 29-05-1979 Hertha Berlin GER 44 0 6 0 0 1 0
4 DF Huth Robert 18-08-1984 Chelsea ENG 17 2 1 0 0 0 0
5 MF Kehl Sebastian 13-02-1980 Borussia Dortmund GER 32 3 4 0 0 0 0
6 DF Nowotny Jens 11-01-1974 Bayer Leverkusen GER 47 1 1 0 0 0 0
7 MF Schweinsteiger Bastian 01-08-1984 Bayern Munich GER 37 9 7 2 0 1 0
8 MF Frings Torsten 22-11-1976 Werder Bremen GER 60 9 6 1 0 2 0
9 FW Hanke Mike 05-11-1983 Wolfsburg GER 7 1 1 0 0 0 0
10 FW Neuville Oliver 01-05-1973 B. Moenchengladbach GER 64 10 7 1 0 0 0
11 FW Klose Miroslav 09-06-1978 Werder Bremen GER 64 31 7 5 0 0 0
12 GK Kahn Oliver 15-06-1969 Bayern Munich GER 86 0 1 0 0 0 0
13 MF Ballack Michael 26-09-1976 Bayern Munich GER 71 31 5 0 0 1 0
14 FW Asamoah Gerald 03-10-1978 Schalke 04 GER 41 6 1 0 0 0 0
15 MF Hitzlsperger Thomas 05-04-1982 VfB Stuttgart GER 16 0 1 0 0 0 0
16 DF Lahm Philipp 11-11-1983 Bayern Munich GER 27 3 7 1 0 0 0
17 DF Mertesacker Per 29-09-1984 Hanover 96 GER 31 1 6 0 0 0 0
18 MF Borowski Tim 02-05-1980 Werder Bremen GER 28 2 6 0 0 2 0
19 MF Schneider Bernd 17-11-1973 Bayer Leverkusen GER 73 1 7 0 0 0 0
20 FW Podolski Lukas 04-06-1985 FC Cologne GER 34 15 7 3 0 1 0
21 DF Metzelder Christoph 05-11-1980 Borussia Dortmund GER 30 0 6 0 0 2 0
22 MF Odonkor David 21-02-1984 Borussia Dortmund GER 7 0 4 0 0 2 0
23 GK Hildebrand Timo 05-04-1979 VfB Stuttgart GER 3 0 0 0 0 0 0