22 Jun.

Germany at UEFA Euro 2016 | Stats and Squad.

Germany have the mentality of a champion!

Germany usually have no problems to find their place in the European championships. UEFA Euro 2016 will be their 12th European finals, they will take part in. The Mannschaft won their qualifying group, after winning 22 points in 10 games. They only lost 2 of their 10 matches, recording 7 victories in the qualifying round. But, Germany have surprisingly recorded 2 defeats in their friendly games before the Euro 2016. If the loss 2-3 to England was surprising, then the defeat 1-3 to Slovakia at home was more than shocking. Moreover, Germany took the lead in both matches. The Germans have been drawn in Group C with the teams of Poland, Ukraine and Northern Ireland.

The German national football team has always performed at world class level at major international competitions. The Mannschaft has won the European Championship on 3 occasions, has become runners-up 2 times and has reached the semi-finals on 2 more occasions. So, when we talk about the favourites at the Euro 2016, we just can’t exclude Germany. Moreover, Joachim Low’s players are the World Cup champions from 2014. Germany have won the World Cup 4 times in total.

In 2012 Germany reached the semifinals of the Euro 2012, but The Mannschaft lost to Italy 1-2 just a game before the final match. The total number of victories Germany have achieved at European championships is 23 of 43 games. They have only recorded 10 defeats. The last time Germany won The European championship was in 1996. The Germans beat the Czech Republic in the final game (2-1) after a golden goal, scored by the legendary striker Oliver Bierhoff. Since then, the Germans failed to qualify for the knockout stage in 2000 and 2004. Then, in 2008, they lost the final match to Spain, before the defeat to Italy in the semifinals in 2012.

But, as I said, the Germans have won the European championship on 3 occasions. Their first triumph came in 1972 (West Germany), when they beat Belgium 2-1 in the semifinals and the Soviet Union 3-0 in the final match. The Germans won their second European championship 8 years later (1980), when they beat again Belgium 2-1.

The Squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Bernd Leno.
Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Jonas Hector, Shkodran Mustafi, Antonio Rudiger, Joshua Kimmich, Benedikt Howedes.
Midfielders: Emre Can, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Julian Weigl, Leroy Sane, Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle.
Forwards: Thomas Muller, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez.

Germany matches at the Euro 2016:

12/06/16 | Germany vs. Ukraine | Stade Pierre-Mauroy (Villeneuve d’Ascq)
16/06/16 | Germany vs. Poland | Stade de France (Paris)
21/06/16 | Northern Ireland vs. Germany | Parc des Princes (Paris)

The main omission for the German national team is the former captain of the team – Philipp Lahm who decided to retire from the international football after the victory in the World Cup final. Marco Reus has been so unlucky, as the attacker has received another injury and will miss the European championship. However, the biggest strength of The Mannschaft is their midfield. They have very good central midfielders in the face of Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Khedira and Ozil. Mario Gomez should be their first choice in attack. The forward has taken part in 2 consecutive European championships. In addition, he found the net on 3 occasions in 2012.

I’m not concerned about it, though. If we lose somebody to injury, then we’ve always got another player ready. We’re not going to grumble. We have a good, balanced team and this is decisive. We are strong and it makes no sense to cry over any player who is not here, so I’m relaxed. Joachim Low