When the votes were counted, the verdict was clear. The vast majority of Germans expect to see their side in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Some 86 per cent of those polled envisage "Die Mannschaft" reaching the last four.
Yet if that suggests the footballing public are overly confident, the statistics suggest that 86 per cent of Germans cannot be wrong. They almost invite the question of what the other 14 per cent were thinking about.
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Consider the facts: Germany have reached the World Cup semi-finals 12 times. Joachim Loew has been involved in four major tournaments – in 2006 as Jurgen Klinsmann’s assistant, the last three as manager – and has never experienced a quarter-final exit, let alone one at an earlier stage.
Yet, if everyone else feels there is something ominous about German progress, a record of astonishing consistency is starting to show unwanted common denominators. Germany have not won a World Cup for 24 years, their longest wait since they first entered the tournament in 1934.
When the former East Germany was absorbed by the West, in late 1990, it was expected the bigger, more-populous single entity would be a football power. Instead, they have not triumphed in any international tournament since Euro 1996.
For much of the drought, many marvelled at their capacity to overachieve. A limited team somehow reached the 2002 World Cup final. After the nadir of Euro 2004, Klinsmann re-energised German football by leading them to third place in admirably attacking fashion in 2006. The initial highs under Loew were celebrated.
But there is only so long that a national team known throughout the years for its mental strength and big-game record can be perennial nearly men.
Loew has redefined German football, making it more technical, more adventurous and more youth-orientated, but his reign may be defined by whether or not he wins a final. Perhaps the eventual verdict may be that Germany’s best chance came in Euro 2012, when their bogey team Italy beat them at the penultimate hurdle, rather than in a World Cup in South America, something Europeans have never won.
Yet this summer, like Euro 2012, offers the chance to splice two golden generations of German footballers. Considering the bleak state of the German game a dozen years ago, they represent a wealth of talent. Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm, fast-tracked amid the wreckage of Euro 2004, all have a century of caps and only captain Lahm has celebrated his 30th birthday. The younger group, first tested in the 2010 World Cup, is larger and arguably still more gifted.
These players, with their diverse ethnic backgrounds and cosmopolitan influences, have allowed Loew to rebrand Germany. They have played with a Spain-style false nine. He has selected a swarm of inventors. Too many, perhaps.
In their past two games, the 2-2 draw with Cameroon and the 6-1 win over Armenia, the goals have arrived only when their play has shown more variety, with greater width and pace and something resembling a centre-forward, whether the versatile Thomas Muller or the venerable Miroslav Klose.
Germany should be careful not to discard the tried and trusted. Podolski, who seemed sidelined by the rise of the prodigies, has played like a man possessed. His last two cameos have brought him one goal and four assists and, with Marco Reus, the most productive man to step off the production line of talent, cruelly sidelined, he staked a case to start.
The Arsenal man offers the directness to stretch defences, and while the numbers involved in German football are invariably incredible, his are particularly impressive: 114 caps – the third highest in their history – and 47 goals, joint third with the legends Klinsmann and Rudi Voller.
Reus’s withdrawal formed part of a troubled preparation. Neither Sami Khedira nor Schweinsteiger, the midfield axis that has served Loew so well, is fully fit. The defence scarcely seems watertight. They are in a tough group.
Yet history has taught Germany to expect progress to the latter stages. Their problem is that, by their elevated standards, memories of Germany captains lifting trophies are starting to feel like ancient history.
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