Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk led the Netherlands to a crushing 3-0 win over Germany on Saturday in the Nations League to ramp up the pressure on German coach Joachim Loew. A first-half header by Dutch skipper Van Dijk gave the hosts the lead in Amsterdam. With the German defence in disarray, late goals from Memphis Depay and Liverpool’s Georginio …
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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk led the Netherlands to a crushing 3-0 win over Germany on Saturday in the Nations League to ramp up the pressure on German coach Joachim Loew. A first-half header by Dutch skipper Van Dijk gave the hosts the lead in Amsterdam. With the German defence in disarray, late goals from Memphis Depay and Liverpool’s Georginio …
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Germany coach Joachim Loew has confirmed there is no chance of Mesut Ozil returning to the squad in the wake of the player’s bombshell retirement from international duty in July. “I think everything has been said about this. When a player announces his resignation like that, you don’t pick him for the squad eight or nine weeks later,” Loew said …
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With Arsene Wenger’s contract coming to an end following the finale of the 2016-17 campaign, the Frenchman could soon depart Arsenal. Wenger’s relationship with the fans has not always been stellar. Currently the longest serving manager in the Premier League, his insistence that he will not needlessly spend huge sums of money on world class players has infuriated the Arsenal faithful. …
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Shkodran Mustafi has been linked with a move to Arsenal consistently in recent days following news that Per Mertesacker could miss up to five months of the Premier League season. The German centre-back has been outstanding for Valencia over the last two seasons to such an extent that he appeared in his country’s colours during the opening stages of the …
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Germany manager Joachim Low was in a sour(kraut) mood following his team’s shock loss to Ireland. Low was understandably unhappy with the 1-0 defeat at the Aviva Stadium last night, and while his team are practically guaranteed Euro 2016 qualification (with just a home game against Georgia left to play), the coach couldn’t resist indulging in a case of ‘sauer grapes’ when asked what went wrong. …
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Germany were easy winners over Gibraltar in their European Championships qualifier last night, winning 7-0. One of the lighter moments during this demolition job was when a camera focused in on Germany boss Joachim Low. With his side 4-0 up and cruising just ten minutes into the second period, the 55-year-old thought it as good a time as any to file …
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Ireland can be quietly confident heading into tomorrow night’s crunch clash with Germany, writes Conor Heffernan. Germany is struggling and Joachim Loew knows it. The defeat to Poland confirmed a German weakness that Loew had hoped desperately was in the past. It haunted Germany during the initial stages of the World Cup and is rearing its ugly head once more. …
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German supporters continue to revel in their World Cup success, while taking pops at England at the same time. As we all know, there’s no love lost between Germany and England. The two nations have had some titanic battles on the pitch, and games between the sides have always been feisty affairs. Germany’s supporters teased England fans throughout the World …
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Only days after winning the biggest prize in football, Germany’s captain Philipp Lahm announced his decision to quit international football. Hailed as one of the best fullbacks in the modern game, the German skipper brought an end to his exploits for the national team, notching up five goals in his 113 caps for his country. After ten years of consistent …
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Germany have become the first European team to win a World Cup on South American soil with many pundits claiming Joachim Löw’s side were the only competing ‘team’ in the actual sense of the word. In the wake of their historic victory, Jack Cahill analyses just why they might be righ Crushing Brazil Felipe Scolari’s Brazil suffered their worst defeat …
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Germany are the most successful side ever at the World Cup. Der Nationalmannschaft has made more semi finals and finals than any other team in the history of the tournament. Germany’s now four World Cup triumphs bring them level with Italy and just one behind Brazil. Each of Germany’s previous three victories, 1954, 1974 and 1990 can be punctuated by …
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After 64 games, a record-equalling 171 goals and a month that will live long in the memory of anyone who experienced it, Germany have been crowned world champions and there are few who could dispute they deserved to emerge victorious. More importantly however, the world awaits the Pundit Arena team of the tournament and after much deliberation, here it is…. Goalkeeper …
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If football, or indeed sport at large, was predictable then nobody would watch it. Some sports are undeniably more predictable than others; the favourite will more than likely come out on top regardless of the doggedness of the minnow. Rugby is a good example thereof; in spite of the efforts of lesser skilled teams to turn eighty minutes of Rugby …
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In the build up to the Rugby World Cup semi-final a few years back one Kiwi fan tweeted colourfully ‘Haven’t been this nervous about a semi since I saw Brokeback mountain’. This anxiety must also be gripping the Brazilian nation as they look forward to Tuesday’s semi-final clash with Germany. Brazilian coach and Gene Hackman lookalike Big Phil Scolari is going for the GAA approach in terms of creating …
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The attitude of many German football fans over the past seven days has been depressingly similar to that of Irish fans two years ago in Poland. “Don’t worry, we play better against the big teams.” It was a rather depressing dogma two years ago but it seems to ring true for the German side, who since beating Portugal in their …
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Germany snuck through an unexpectedly tight match with Algeria on Monday night thanks to extra time goals from Andre Schürrle and Mesut Özil, but in truth they could easily have become the biggest casualty yet of this unpredictable World Cup. Germany won their group but went completely untested against Portugal, and were very unconvincing against Ghana before an encouraging midfield …
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This World Cup so far has proven itself to be about as predictable as an Irish Summer. Hopeful as many were that the evening kick off between Ghana and Germany would be a contest, none could really have said they expected what they got following Germany’s utter destruction of Portugal and Ghana’s lethargic performance against the USA. German head coach …
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