I saw one interesting statistic on the FIFA website yesterday. That the German national team need one more goal to hit the 200 mark in terms of their World Cup qualifying goals. And it has been 18 years after Klaus Fisher took them through the 100-mark in an 8-0 defeat of Albania. So, I was in nursery school when the national team hit the 100-mark.
It is not that the strikers in the current German national team (they know who they are) do not know how to score against Liechtenstein. They hit past their neighbours six (and none conceded) in the previous meeting in Vaduz which is also a World Cup qualifier. It is about the discussion about who is in goal that has gotten me wanting to tear my hair out...again. And my hair actually got cut last week. I can list a number of reasons why it is different from the past where there are times it is actually a drag to 'report' the on-goings ahead of any international matches for the squad for me. And the goalkeeping issue is one of those.
It is almost as old as the, chicken or egg issue. I was just saying this earlier this month when I was still under the weather: I can only say in regards to the goalkeeper issue, German football should be lucky that it has a number of goalkeepers to fall back on for its national team, not really arguing who is the No. 1 in goal at the moment. We can argue that when the qualifiers had been done with, not now (not when I trawl through the Internet, sneezing half the time!). I did not also talked about the debate which has make me sick of reading it: Is there really any world-class goalkeeper in sight in German football currently. It always surface time and again. And my reaction is always the same each time: Argh!
I am aware of the German goalkeeping legacy over the years. Now if anyone want to find the best goalkeeper around at the moment, it is Spain and Italy (at least for me) with Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon respectively. Before one can talk about who can give Casillas and Buffon a run for their money in Germany, until we can really find one...there is no point bringing it up especially whenever there are international matches coming around like the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. I rather be reading who may be playing, who may be not. And yes no surprises, the goalkeeper issue was back on the agenda yesterday, amongst other things.
But before I get to that, in order to win the fans back (cough me as well cough) after two back-to-back defeats at home to England and Norway in friendlies, six points are definitely needed ahead of the two World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Wales. No less, with even German footballing great and current Bayern Munich president Franz Beckbenbauer had talked about expecting the six points. The first step in winning the expected sell-out crowd in Leipzig this weekend against Liechtenstein is a win, and a convincing one before the more major clash against Wales away in Cardiff. Speaking to the media yesterday, assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick had insisted the players will not simply be using Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein as a warm-up for the trip to Wales next week. Even with the previous 6-0 result in Vaduz, Flick warns that does not mean they can afford to take Liechtenstein lightly on Saturday before turning their attention to the trip to Cardiff four days later.
Both Lukas Podolski and Marcell Jansen also spoke to the media yesterday, apart from the assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick. For Podolski, it has been quite a turnaround (to say the least) since he came back from injury and in the wake of his fellow Bayern Munich and Germany team-mate Miroslav Klose will be out on the sidelines for some time. Podolski has become, the Podolski everyone used to know. Making use of his chance at his club to restake his claim in the German national team once again. It was claimed back in September he had been left out due his poor form but Podolski denied that was the case, saying things could not be going much better for him at present. On the immediate task at hand, Podolski was on target twice in the 6-0 win over Liechtenstein in Vaduz and he will be looking to emulate that over the next seven days. For Jansen (who told the media that his move from Bayern to Hamburg was a 'right step', given when it was announced earlier in the season of the move, it took many by surprise but, Jansen had found his form now under Martin Jol and it has also earned him a recall into the national team as well), he could be replacing his fellow Hamburg team-mate Piotr Trochowski who sat out training yesterday due to a muscular injury. Jansen is therefore on standby to take his place, although he claims there would be no ill-feeling between the pair were he to challenge for his position in the national team on a regular basis.
The recent-elected UEFA executive committee member (the UEFA Congress is being held in Copenhagen and elections were also held for positions into the executive committee yesterday) and DFB (German FA) president Theo Zwanziger spoke on yesterday's edition of Sport Bild of the national team captain Michael Ballack must lead Germany by example as the national team look to bounce back from home defeats in their last two games. If what has been said on the Stern magazine last week are anything to go by, Ballack has been working hard behind the scenes to build bridges in the Germany squad. And even Oliver Bierhoff had noted too considering both Bierhoff and Ballack had an on field spat immediately after the Euro 2008 final 1-0 defeat to Spain in Vienna last June, but Bierhoff has defended Ballack from recent criticism within the Germany squad. The national team manager speaking to the Cologne-based Express yesterday, especially took aim at what current injured Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose was saying on the Stern magazine last week about Ballack must work hard to lead both on and off the field. Bierhoff confirmed Ballack was not angry with Klose, adding: "I called him immediately and he said he was fine with it."
With ten years experience of international football behind him, Ballack has said he will work with new members of the squad, but Germany need a big win over Liechtenstein - ranked 151 in the world - to boost confidence. His fellow team-mate on the national team Lukas Podolski said it best, "It doesn't matter if we are playing Liechtenstein or Wales, the opposition is not important, we just have to win both games and get the points."
Now, what is really pissing me off. It began with both former Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, current national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke both lamenting the same thing: There are currently no world-class goalkeeper, and a consistent one as well in the country at the moment. Good goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, yes. World-class ones, no. That is the view from Koepke in yesterday's Sport Bild. Koepke, who was part of the Euro 1996-winning side himself said, "We have very good goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, but from my point of view we have no absolute world-class goalkeepers at present." And Kahn - who led Germany to the 2002 World Cup final defeat against Brazil - said the national team is lacking consistency from any of the current crop of 'keepers. He said, "This situation, which does not please me at all, is that all the current goalkeepers have all fallen into a rut and none of them have a high-level of consistency." Kahn is referring to the fact that the current three goalkeepers who had been in between the sticks for the national team in recent times in Bayer Leverkusen's Rene Adler, Hannover's Robert Enke, Werder Bremen's Tim Wiese had been inconsistent. Even Schalke's Germany U-21 goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who had once been touted as one of thoe to make the grade in the senior side, is not performing consistently for his club.
For Rene Adler, he was in goal when Germany beat Russia and Wales last October to go top of their World Cup qualifier group. The Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper made his debut for the national team against Russia, at the expense of Robert Enke being seriously injured himself. But Adler was also between the posts when Germany were humbled in their last two friendlies at home to England and Norway, but his closest rival Enke has already conceded 52 goals in a struggling Hannover team. So while Adler sat out during training yesterday, it has been expected that for the next two World Cup qualifiers - againt Liechtenstein in Leipzig (it is also being held in Adler's hometown at the same time) on Saturday and Wales in Cardiff on April 1 - Adler and Enke will fight for the Number One shirt. But former Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper Olver Kahn is not surprised neither player has merited selection through lack of consistent performances. Even Adler himself has been inconsistent for Leverkusen of late.
But, it was assistant coach in the national team Hans-Dieter Flick who was against what goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke and former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn were lamenting about. Flick has no qualms at all about who stands in goal on Saturday. In fact, in response to all that debate, he said in return, "We are convinced about our goalkeepers, they are all high-class and I am not so sure Kahn and Lehmann were always world-class." Koepke was referring to Jens Lehmann in regards to the latter, who retired from the national team last August and is currently in between the posts at VfB Stuttgart. The debate about not having a 'good enough one' is not bothering Flick at all.
And oh yes, for all the fuss over those fitness tests which were done on Tuesday (I did talked about it yesterday), national team physician Tim Meyer told the media yesterday that there will be more in September where the German national team will have a friendly against the 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa on 5 September and the qualifier against Azerbaijan four days later.
