This Sunday afternoon will be livelier than your average Sunday, when you're more likely to be laid out on a sofa nursing the effects of the night before.
But not this weekend because come 3 o’clock the nation will be full of pride and hype as England take on the old enemy Germany in the World Cup knock out stages. As soon as these two teams were drawn together it immediately threw up all the old clichés of The War, 1966 and of course penalty shootouts. There really isn’t another team that evokes the nation into a frenzy as much as the Germans.
This World Cup has thrown up plenty of shocks and changes to the norm so far, both of last years finalists have gone home early in disgrace, the new ball is ‘rounder’ and most importantly Germany have missed a penalty. That miss from Lukas Podolski was the first time Germany have missed a penalty since the 1974 World Cup. Germany scoring penalties is one of the things you’d usually but your house on, there is hope…
Paddy Power are offering the best odds for an England win at 17/10 and here are the reasons for us all to believe they can beat Germany:
Not so “Vorsprung durch Tecknik” - This German side are clearly not as clinical and efficient as the German teams of yester year. Beating an under strength Australia and then losing to Serbia isn’t the mark of Champions. The team is also made up of youngsters and around half of the squad are German immigrants, not that this is bad thing and is common place for all teams now. But whether these players are accustomed to the stereotypical systematic Germanic approach to football remains to be seen
Weak Links – The two German centrebacks are the weak links in the German side both lack pace and haven’t played together long enough to form an understanding. They will not relish the prospect of Jermain Defoe’s speed and the aggression of a fired up Wayne Rooney
Mind The Gap – The likes of Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger have too much flair to be your normal German footballer, they are key to their countries chances and will look to get forward as much as possible leaving big gaps in the midfield for England to exploit
The Kaiser – Franz Beckenbauer has been unusually chippy about England during this World Cup. The usually quiet and reserved man is respected in the game for this feat of winning the World Cup as both a player and a coach however his comments about England being a “kick and rush team”, “Stupid for finishing 2nd” and “German players are fitter and England are burnt out” have all but written Fabio Cappello’s team talk. It can only mean the Germans are nervous!
The Red Kit – The red jerseys brings back memories of 1966 and the all red kit as worn against Slovenia is another good omen for England. In the last seven matches they’ve worn all red they’ve won four times, drawn twice and lost once
Back On The BBC – ITV screened the first two group matches and we all know what happened. The first England game shown on the BBC for this World Cup was the Slovenia one and they’re showing the game this Sunday against Germany
If England are to avoid it going to penalties they need to make sure they take all the chances they create against Germany, the team looked livelier against Slovenia and we’re all hoping they play even better against the Germans. Not only did England play better but also Wayne Rooney looked more like the Rooney we know, Wazza is 5/1 to score the first goal of the match.
What about the famous 5-1 thrashing in Germany England dished out, think about that! It’s a massive 325/1 to happen again this Sunday and another reason why we can beat the Germans!
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