Germany

FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: 6

Germany will be making its 17th World Cup appearance, and they have won it three times. They are joined in Group D by Serbia (ranked 15th), Australia (ranked 20th) and Ghana (ranked 32nd). They are the heavy favorites to come out on top of this group that some have already dubbed “the group of death.”

Germany qualified for the World Cup in typical efficient fashion. In ten matches they won eight and drew two to finish at the top of their group, exhibiting experience, determination and consistency rather than an exciting style of play. Because of all these many have picked Germany as contenders for the World Cup, where they hope to be the first European team to win outside of Europe.

Coach

Germany is coached by Joachim Low who took over in July of 2007 serving before that as an assistant coach on the team that came in third in 2006. Low is a very calm and collected coach who knows the game of soccer very well. In typical German fashion he believes in hard work and being well prepared.

Key Players

Germany has a lot of talent and experience on their team. However, they suffered an enormous blow when captain, Michael Ballack suffered an injury that will keep him from participating in this World Cup.

Taken over for Ballack as captain will be forward Miroslav Klose, who is the only player to have ever scored five goals in consecutive World Cups. He is also the third all-time leading scorer in German history. If he can repeat his performances in the last two World Cups and score five goals he will tie Brazilian Ronaldo with the most goals scored in World Cup history.

Another key player for Germany is Philipp Lahm, who, despite being a defender, is known for his attacking ability. He typically plays on the left side and loves to sprint forward and cross the ball into the box.

Joining Klose up front will most likely be Lukas Podolski. Podolski is a very gifted forward who always seems to step up his game on the international level. He was a key performer for Germany in the last World Cup, where he scored three goals. He and Klose are truly the keys to how far Germany will progress.