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250,000 Reasons For Germany Wanting To Win

The DFB (German Football Association) have announced that following talks with Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider, Mirsoslav Klose and Jens Lehmann on Sunday, they will pay each member of the German squad up to €250,000 in bonuses and more.

Should Germany progress past the group stage, which they are expected to do, each man will receive a bonus of €50,000.

The bonus will rise to 100,000 if Germany reach the semi-final stages of Euro 2008.

Should Germany make the final, players will be guaranteed €150,000 - that payment coming if Germany lose. If Germany win the final in June, the players have been guaranteed €250,000 each.

The bonus payments, though small in comparison to what some of the squad earn in a week playing club football, might be enough to drive Germany past the group stage of the competition, something they’ve failed to two in their past two attempts. That said, they are still being tipped as favourites for the competition outright.

Germany play in Group B along with Poland, Croatia and Austria.

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Ballack Back In The German Fold

Michael Ballack has been included in the German squad to face Austria next week.

Out of international action and contention since last March, Ballack has been plagued by injury in recent months. While he hasn’t exactly starred for Chelsea either, he did make the field last night scoring against Reading.

His goal too helped Chelsea to extend their unbeaten league run at Stamford Bridge to a massive 75 games.

German coach Joachim Loew insists that Ballack is a key part of Germany’s plans for success in Euro 2008, though I still feel he needs to up his game a notch in England, especially with Germany tipped for first place in this summer’s competition.

Germany’s regular back four are all out of action for next week’s friendly and as a result, Loew is set to hand debuts to both Jermaine Jones and Heiko Westermann.

Germany are drawn in group B alongside Austria, Poland and Croatia.

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Lehmann Going To Euro 2008

Jens Lehmann had been in doubt about his position at Euro 2008 but not any more, or so it seems.

It was reported in the last few weeks that the Arsenal stopper, who has lost his place in the first team to Almunia, would consider leaving London and returning to Germany in search of first team football.

But he need not worry with German coach Joachim Loew quoted as saying “he has proven his worth. He can handle pressure in an excellent manner and is a leading player within the squad.” While he would rather Lehmann to be seeing more first-team action, Loew has virtually assured both Lehmann and Timo Hildebrand of their places in Austria and Switzerland.

Whatever happens in the run up to Euro 2008 it looks ever more likely that Lehmann will leave the Gunners at the end of the summer, despite showing no major signs of slowing down in his performance. If anything, the move is as much for his family as it is for his playing career with the hope of settling down somewhere long term.

Lehmann will hopefully be joined by Torten Frings who is set for a Bundesliga comeback in February.

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Torsten Frings On The Comeback Trail

German midfield Torsten Frings has February pencilled in for his return to first team action with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, something which should spell more good news for German head coach Joachim Loew.

Frings has hardly featured for Bremen this season having picked up a knee injury during the summer but has at least resumed light training and barring a second setback, he should be back on the pitch by early Spring.

Germany will need to be at full strength if they’re going to secure their fourth European Championship. This summer will see Germany enter the competition for the tenth time, will we see a double figure appearance marked with a tournament win? Admittedly they’ll be one of the favourites but Group B will be tricky enough - both Poland and Croatia coming through their qualifying quite strongly and hosts Austria with no intention of failing to advance from the group stage on home soil.

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Dudek Still Seeking Euro 2008 Spot

Jerzy Dudek has said he “would like to Madrid” if it means he’ll get to play in Euro 2008. True enough, he’s going to need the regular football to prove match fitness, something he won’t get in La Liga playing behind Iker Casillas but he knew the score once he left Liverpool. He wasn’t getting regular football there so moved off to Madrid, happy to play second fiddle in a warm country with a big pay check. The move won’t guarantee him a place in the Polish national team for June and all that only comes to light if Madrid decide to let him go.

Talking to Spanish sports paper yesterday, Marca, Dudek is quoted as saying

“I’ve got a three-year contract with Real Madrid but I want to look at the possibility of leaving; Poland have qualified for the European championship for the first time and I have received an important call from the coach Leo Beenhakker who told me that if I played regularly I would be his keeper at Euro 2008. I want to play at the European championship because it will be a historic moment for our country and I haven’t played at all in Madrid. I think the best thing now is that we sit down and talk.”

Like many others going into Euro 2008, this is likely to be Dudek’s last chance at a major tournament, unlikely that he’ll still be around the game in four years time when Poland host the tournament with Ukraine.

A loan deal might be an option as I can’t imagine any team committing to signing a 34 year old goalkeeper who hasn’t played competitive club football in months. With Celtic having advanced in the Champions League and doing well at home I can’t see any problem in Artur Boruc being Beenhakker’s first choice keeper come June. At that rate, Tomasz Kuszczak has as much a chance of a call-up as Dudek and he’s likely to see more action with Man United before the season is out.

Best of luck to Jerzy in his quest.

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German Coach Dislikes Small Stadiums

Germany manager Joachim Loew has spoken out over the small-sizes stadiums being used for Euro 2008, including the 32,000 capacity Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt which plays host to Germany’s games against Croatia and Poland.

As it stands, the German FA have been given a ticket supply of just 6,000 for both games and Loew anticipates “tens of thousands” of German fans will be crossing into Austria to see their country in action on the pitch.

It is not good that some stadiums for this European Championships have a small capacity.

You would think that after hosting the World Cup in 2006 that Germany would be in no position to complain, but complain they will. The two biggest stadiums in the competition, the Ernst Happel Stadion (Vienna) and the upgraded St. Jakob-Park (Basle) will be used by Austra and Switzerland for their group games as well as sharing the quarter finals, semi finals and final (Vienna).

What’s the saying about a good work man not blaming his tools?

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