“You’ve got to be a certain type of character to stand your ground on the biggest stage.”
Germany are aiming to become the first country since Brazil in 1962 to retain the World Cup. It won’t be an easy task, but the Germans are one of the favourites to win the tournament in Russia and anything less than a place in the semi-finals will be considered a failure.
Joachim Löw’s side can use their experience at last summer’s Confederations Cup to their advantage. Germany won that tournament with a squad of younger players, opting to leave their star-names, such as Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer, at home. Timo Werner was one of those given a chance to impress, and he didn’t disappoint.
The RB Leipzig striker scored three goals and registered two assists, enough to win him the competition’s Golden Boot. He followed that with an impressive club season, scoring 21 goals in 45 games as the Bundesliga side competed in their first Champions League campaign. Werner has 42 goals in 77 games for Leipzig and the 22-year-old has been linked with big-money transfers to clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
He has also made a great start to his international career. In 14 appearances, he has scored eight times and is expected to lead the line against Mexico on Sunday. Werner is blessed with searing pace, has good movement and is a strong finisher.
Germany have often opted for a false-nine instead of a natural striker, and haven’t had a settled centre-forward since Miroslav Klose retired, so Werner has the chance to become Klose’s long-term successor for the national team. But another former Germany international reckons the jury is still out on his chances of success at this tournament.
Didi Hamann has claimed that Werner may struggle with the physical threat of Germany’s group opponents in Russia, and it could be a step too far for him right now.
“I think it will be a learning curve because he’s played one season of Champions League and he’s improved a lot in terms of stature in terms of personality but this is a different ball game,” the former Liverpool midfielder told SportsJOE.
“It will be interesting I’m not too sure, I couldn’t tell you know that I will confident that he will be a success because against physical presence sometimes in the past, you know nobody likes it but I don’t think he likes it at all. You’ve got to be a certain type of character to stand your ground on the biggest stage, and in Mexico, Sweden and South Korea we’ve got three physical teams we’re playing against, so it will be a huge test. I think we’ll know a lot more about him after the World Cup, at this moment in time I’ve got my doubts him.”
Hamann also isn’t too convinced about Germany’s chances of retaining their title in Russia. The former Bayern Munich midfielder played 59 times for Germany and was part of the team that reached the World Cup final in 2002, where they lost 2-0 to Brazil. Hamann reckons Brazil will win this World Cup too, and he would be surprised if his country goes all the way again.
“There are lots of question marks over Germany and you’re also the defending champions and everyone wants to knock you off your perch,” Hamann told reporters when RTE launched their coverage of the tournament.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic but I’d be surprised if they win it again. I quite like Brazil to win it. We’ve a very good squad but maybe not as good as two or three other teams like the Spanish, French and Brazilians.”
“The big worry for me is it’s an inexperienced team,” Hamann said.
Since Germany’s World Cup victory in 2014, stalwarts of the national team such as Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Klose have retired, meaning the side have lost over 500-caps worth of experience. The RTE pundit has said that the current team lack leaders.
“I’ve just got my doubts about the team because leaders have left. Toni Kroos, as fantastic a player as he is, he’s got to prove that he’s the leader people expect him to be or that he can be. At the back, Hummels and Boateng are the mainstays of the team from four years ago but they are four years older. And Neuer has been out for eight months. He played one game against Austria last week and did well but he has not played any competitive football for eight months. There are a lot of question marks.”
Germany will try to answer some of those questions when they get their campaign underway against Mexico on Sunday.
