The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Germany

  • Dele Alli targets Gerrard’s feat in Germany

    Dele Alli targets Gerrard’s feat in Germany

    MK Dons midfielder Dele  Alli has spoken of his desire to emulate his childhood idol Steven Gerrard by scoring against Germany tonight.

    The 18-year-old Nigerian-born England youth international who has been earning plaudits for his club performances in recent months, is set to travel with the England U-19 side to take on their German counterparts in Oberhausen.

    Alli, who has yet to score for the Three Lions told TheFA.com: “I’ve had a few chances when I’ve been playing for England and I feel like they’ve been easy chances, but I’ve just been messing up so I can’t wait to get off the mark.

    “I am actually a Liverpool fan and Gerrard is someone I look up to massively. If the ball drops for me on Monday like it did for him against Germany, I’m smashing it!”

    Alli, who was referring to England’s 5-1 win against the four-time World Cup winners back in 2001, has reportedly been on the radar of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Bayern Munich during the last transfer window.

  • 2014 World Cup: Germany beat Argentina

    With a lone goal victory over Argentina, Germany on Sunday won the 2014 World Cup.

    The final match of the competition was goalless at the end of the second half as Germany had to wait till the second half of extra time to get the deciding goal.

  • Germany VS Argentina: Head-to-Head

    Germany VS Argentina: Head-to-Head

    The best player in the world goes up against the ultimate team machine on the world’s biggest stage.

    Jose Mourinho’s exclusive World Cup analysis

    When Lionel Messi’s Argentina takes on Germany in today’s World Cup final, it looks at first glance like a meeting between brilliant individual scoring talent and the tight discipline of a collective unit. But this game will be about much more than that.

    Argentina has shown that it can play just as tactically as the Germans, eking out narrow victories and doing whatever is needed to win. Germany, meanwhile, has put on two of the most explosive displays of the tournament – beating Portugal 4-0 in its opening game and then demolishing host Brazil 7-1 in the semi-finals.

    Add in the rich history between these two teams – who faced each other in two straight World Cup finals in 1986 and 1990, winning one each – and it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top at the Maracana

    GOALKEEPERS:

    Manuel Neuer’s reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in the world has only grown in Brazil, where he has been one of Germany’s best players throughout the tournament, especially in the knockout rounds. Aside from being a first-class shot stopper, the Bayern Munich goalkeeper showed his versatility by repeatedly rushing out to help the defence in the second-round win over Algeria. He then made key saves to deny Karim Benzema an equaliser for France in the quarterfinals, and a number of impressive stops against Brazil.

    Sergio Romero has answered most sceptics who questioned whether he was good enough to play for a top team in a World Cup. Romero was only a backup for his club Monaco this past season, but came through big in the penalty shootout against the Netherlands with two saves to send his team into the final. He has kept three straight clean sheets in the knockout rounds, but will face his greatest challenge yet against the clinical Germans.

    Advantage: Germany

    DEFENCE:

    Germany’s defence has improved vastly since coach Joachim Loew took captain Philip Lahm out of midfield and put him back in his favoured position as right back after an erratic display against Algeria in the second round. Mats Hummels has been a steady anchor in central defence, and Germany had little trouble neutralising the explosive attacks of both France and Brazil. Whether they can deal with Messi is another matter.

    Argentina’s defence was seen as its main weakness going into the World Cup, but the team has now gone 330 minutes without conceding a goal in the knockout rounds – including two extra time periods. The back four, which includes Manchester City duo Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis, made Dutch strikers Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie look plain ordinary.

    Advantage: Germany

    MIDFIELD:

    This is Germany’s biggest strength, a unit without weakness that plays together as a well-oiled machine. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira shore things up defensively while Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil direct most of the attacks going forward. Germany’s ruthless display against Brazil was orchestrated by the clinical efficiency of its midfield, and a similar display on Sunday might just be too much for Argentina to handle as well.

    The Argentines, meanwhile, are hoping that Angel Di Maria will recover from a thigh injury to play in the final. Di Maria’s pace and ability to take on defenders on the wing was sorely missed against the Netherlands, when his team struggled to find ways forward. Defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano was one of the best players on the pitch against the Netherlands and is the key to keeping Germany in check.

    Advantage: Germany

    ATTACK:

    Germany has the highest-scoring player in World Cup history in Miroslav Klose. But Argentina has Messi, and two other top forwards to boot. While Messi hasn’t scored in the three knockout games, his four goals in the group stage reminded everyone of why he’s a four-time world player of the year. Even with Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain in the team, Messi has always been the key to Argentina’s success – and never more so than in the biggest game of his career. For Argentina to have a chance, Messi will have to create goals – either for himself or for his teammates. Germany aren’t bad up front either: Klose netted his 16th career World Cup goal against Brazil, and his teammate Thomas Mueller already has 10 in just two tournaments.

     

    Advantage: Argentina

  • Fallout of Brazil, Germany’s rout

    David Luiz has apologised “to all Brazilians” for the humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte.

    Brazil’s dreams of winning the tournament as hosts were smashed as they slumped to an embarrassing defeat. Germany blew Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men away as they took a 5-0 lead in the first half before sealing the emphatic 7-1 scoreline after the break.

    David Luiz, who was named captain in the absence of the suspended Thiago Silva, could only offer an apology at full-time for an abject personal and collective performance.

    “I just wanted to give some happiness to my people. To my people, who suffer so much already,” Luiz told Rede Globo.

    “Unfortunately we couldn’t do it. I’m sorry, everyone. Sorry to all Brazilians. I wanted to see my people smiling.

    “Everyone knows how important it was for me to make the Brazilian people happy, even if just because of football.”

    Goalkeeper Julio Cesar echoed Luiz’s apology and felt the Brazil players became “lost” during a dramatic opening 45 minutes.

    “I think we got a little lost there and Germany noticed we were like that and managed to score the goals,” said Cesar. “I’d rather we had lost 1-0 because of my mistake.

    “To explain what happened now is complicated. This is a dream that ends, although not the way we hoped.

    “In my life, I’ve learned to be a man at all times. I won’t shy away from anything, I’ll take it on the chin. One day I’ll give happiness to those people.”

  • Dani Alves: Germany humiliation won’t stain our careers

    The defender insists the Brazil players’ careers will not be scarred by the embarrassing 7-1 thumping at the hands of Germany in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday

    Dani Alves does not believe the Brazil players’ careers will be stained by the humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

    The hosts were crushed by Joachim Low’s side and Alves, who was an unused substitute, insists the Selecao squad is made up of “champions” who will not be remembered for one humbling defeat in Belo Horizonte.

    “No, I don’t believe it is a stain on our careers,” Alves told SporTV.  “It won’t be stained by a single match, or by the elimination. Our fight, and where we reached, nothing can stain this.

    “Football isn’t just about one match. Competitions are made to compete, to try to go as far as you can. We were eliminated today, but in this group, there are only champions.”

    Meanwhile, midfielder Willian was at a loss to explain how Brazil fell to such a humbling defeat after they conceded five first-half goals to the rampant Germans on the way to the worst defeat in the national team’s history.

    Willian said: “Today is an inexplicable day to all of us. It’s one of those inexplicable stories of football. Everything went right for Germany and wrong for us.

    “Our goal was to make it to the final and go for the title. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it. Every player here has quality, all 11 that Felipao put out there have quality. Nothing went our way, but now we have to raise our heads and life goes on.”

  • World cup lifts sales in Germany

    In Germany, the  World Cup is a  success as fans cheering the national team drive beer sales to a record.

    Revenue in June trumped sales generated in the same month in 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup, Chief Executive Officer Roland Tobias said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Paulaner sold nine per cent more beer in June compared with eight years ago, the company said, declining to provide exact volumes.

    “So far, the summer is really, really good for our business and we expect to continue,” Tobias told Bloomberg Television’s Guy Johnson. “If Germany wins, there will be an unbelievable party.”

    Germany, which has won soccer’s biggest competition three times, trounced the host nation Brazil 7-1 in a semifinal in Belo Horizonte to secure a chance at lifting its first World Cup trophy since 1990. The rout ended a run of 63 competitive matches at home without a defeat for Brazil, going back to 1975. The victory “almost earns the designation historic,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin today.

    The five-hour time difference between Rio de Janeiro and Munich means that all the games are broadcast in the evening in Germany, which has helped increase sales, Tobias said.

    “People go out because they want to have fun and have a party, even those who aren’t football fans,” he said. “That’s easier when the game’s in the evening.”

    Paulaner, through investor Brau Holding International, is part-owned by the Schoerghuber Corporate Group and Heineken NV. It also owns the Hacker-Pschorr, Thurn & Taxis and Auerbraeu brands. Brau Holding’s 2,300 employees generated about 588 million euros ($800 million) of revenue last year.

    Brau Holding sold 5.5 million hectoliters of beer last year, 1.2 per cent more than in 2012, according to its website. Paulaner, its biggest brand, increased revenue by 1.5 per cent to a record high, it said.

    German chemical companies may also see a World Cup boon, said Karl-Ludwig Kley, the president of the VCI German chemical industry group and CEO of Merck KGaA, when asked at a press conference in Frankfurt today if the world cup has any measurable effect on chemical production.

    While the effect on chemical production isn’t measurable, “there is an emotional effect, which prompts people to buy more so there is benefit to retail sales,” Kley said at the briefing.

    The CEO pointed out that chemical ingredients are used to make clothing, soccer shoes and the official match ball, the Brazuca, produced by Adidas AG.

    The polyurethane used to make the Brazuca balls is supplied by Bayer AG, which also owns Bayer 04 Leverkusen Football Club.

  • Mertesacker: ‘Germany needs World Cup trophy win’

    Mertesacker: ‘Germany needs World Cup trophy win’

    Germany defender Per Mertesacker has insisted that his side need to push on and end their 24-year drought without a World Cup trophy win.

    Die Mannschaft have reached the last four of the tournament for the fourth competition in a row, but have failed to go on to win the title.

    “We finished the last two World Cups in third position and that is really consistent,” Mertesacker is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

    “What we need in Germany after all these years is a title. We are talking about titles and trophies.”

    Mertesacker missed training on Sunday after suffering with flu ahead of his side’s semi-final clash with Brazil tonight.

  • Ronaldo fires warning to Germany

    Underestimate Brazil at your own peril, those are words from iconic striker Ronaldo ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final showdown with Germany.

    Brazil will face Germany in Belo Horizonte for a place in the FIFA World Cup decider, though the host nation will be without star striker Neymar.

    Neymar – scorer of four goals at Brazil 2014 – was cruelly ruled out of the tournament after fracturing his vertebra in the closing stages of the side’s 2-1 quarter-final triumph over South American rivals Colombia on Saturday.

    Luiz Felipe Scolari will also be without captain and defender Thiago Silva, who is suspended for the last-four tie.

    But despite the loss of arguably the two best players in Brazil’s squad, Ronaldo said he believes the Germans – contesting their fourth consecutive semi – will have their work cut out against the five-time world champions.

    “If the Germans think they will find a weak, impaired, hopeless side on the pitch, because it lost one player, and even if this player is called Neymar, they will make a great mistake underestimating the quality of the Brazilian team,” said Ronaldo – winner of two World Cups in 1994 and 2002.

    “Brazil has never and will never be defined by one player. We have great examples in the past, with players in the same level as Neymar.

    “Like Pele, who got injured at the 1962 World Cup and was replaced. Despite that, Brazil won the World Cup. We expect that whoever takes to the pitch will do their best.

  • Germany trails Nigeria in fraud report

    Germany trails Nigeria in fraud report

    German businesses have reported one of the highest levels of corruption in the world, with one in four managers saying they had experienced a significant case of fraud in the last two years.

    Only firms in countries notorious for corruption, such as Nigeria, Egypt, Namibia and Kenya, reported more fraud in the survey of 2,700 managers in 59 countries from accounting firm, Ernst & Young (EY), German English newspaper, The Local, reported.

    Their 2014 Global Fraud Survey showed that in Germany only six per cent of firms thought fraud was widespread, yet 26 per cent reported serious cases of fraud within the last two years.

    That was the highest level in Europe alongside Norway, more than Russia (16 per cent) and almost as much as Nigeria (30 per cent). The average for Western Europe was 12 per cent.

    But rather than being a sign of increased economic crime, the high number of detected fraud was an indication of the intense efforts of German companies to tackle corruption, Stefan Heißner, from EY told Welt newspaper.

    “Awareness of the dangers posed by corruption among companies has increased significantly in recent years,” Heißner said.

    In the last decade, major German companies, including Siemens, MAN and Daimler, have been embroiled in corruption scandals.

    The country’s most recent high profile corruption case involved Berlin’s new international airport, where the technical director was fired in June amid allegations he demanded a bribe from a contractor.

    Heißner said that despite their efforts German companies were still at risk of fraud, especially firms heavily involved abroad.

    But closer to home, one in four managers in Germany also thought it was appropriate to offer entertainment to win a contract.

    In a statement, EY said: “Our survey shows that the risks businesses are facing are not receding. The incidence of fraud and reported levels of corruption are not declining.”

  • Germany’s Weidmann rejects calls for euro devaluation

    The head of Germany’s Bundesbank has rejected calls from some European countries for the euro to be devalued to help exporters in a magazine interview.

    In a pre-publication statement, Germany’s Focus magazine reported Jens Weidmann as saying any move to weaken the currency could lead other central banks to follow suit, prompting a “devaluation race” that would only have losers.

    “Competitiveness cannot be brought about through a devaluation. It is generated (by) companies with attractive products that stand their ground on the markets,” Weidmann, seen as the most hawkish European Central Bank policymaker, said.

    “A strong economy can also tolerate a strong currency.”

    Euro zone states including France have called for talks to address what they consider the excessive strength of the euro once a new European Parliament is in place later this year.

    The ECB does not target the euro’s exchange rate but the strength of the currency has been seen as contributing to inflation that has fallen far short of the central bank’s target of just below two per cent.

    The euro is trading at around $1.35 (1.08 pounds), having fallen from $1.40 at the start of last month as markets anticipated moves made early in June by the central bank to loosen policy to spur growth and avert the threat of deflation.

    A strong currency makes exports more expensive.

    Weidmann, who emphasised his opposition to the ECB buying government bonds, also appeared to dismiss potential purchases of other assets by the euro zone central bank.

    “In some countries – including in Germany – we see the danger of a real estate bubble. And then we as the euro system should buy Dutch real estate loans?” he said.

    The ECB decided unanimously this month to cut interest rates to record lows – taking the rate on overnight deposits below zero – and to launch measures to stimulate lending to small and medium-sized companies, the backbone of the euro zone economy.

    Weidmann said he had misgivings about the package but had agreed to it because it was justifiable given low inflation.

    He did not expect the negative deposit rate would do much to boost loans in the euro zone, however, arguing that banks provided few loans in southern regions because “many firms (there) hardly demand fresh money due to the weak economy”.