Deutschland vs Kanada in Wolfsburg

I didn't even know that CAN will play against Germany ...
When will the match take place ?

 

Nobody of FC Bayern (but that's meanwhile normal in friendlies) and without Klose.

Canadian roster already presented? Which European players will play? Stalteri will get lots of uncommon media focus in these days I think.

 

I'd say Germany will win but without Bayern's German players Canada will have a chance.Lithuania held Germany to a 1-1 draw if I'm not mistaken.I hope that Kevin Kuranyi and Benjamin Lauth will get to play.

 

In the last game Germany also played without any Bayern Munich player, that's not uncommon. The only one who will be missed is Michael Ballack, all others can be replaced more or less good.

For the Canadian players it's a big chance to show up, especially for Canizales or Nsaliwa. Good game and they are in the files of the German pro clubs.

 

Hey, it could actually be a good game. For one, Canada has Pat Onstad (SJ Earthquakes 'keeper and high quality) and two they have Paul Stalteri (one of the more exciting BL players). And Germany, while having plenty of quality talent, have a penchant for not showing up for games mentally, or having lots of injuries to key players, and horribly under achieving. If Germany are relatively healthy and bring their "A" game, then Canada could be in for a long game. Otherwise, Canada could give Germany some trouble.

 

To give those on this forum who aren't that familiar with the Canadian team an idea of how depleted the Canadian roster will be, it looks like the starting strikers for Canada will be Jason Jordan (of the Vancouver Whitecaps) and Nikki Budalic (of Swedish side Orebro) - neither player has ever been capped for Canada at the national team level (they are aged 24 & 25 respectively). The rest of the strikers we normally use are unavailable for a variety of reasons, with the exception of Canizalez (who in his previous two national team caps has played in midfield, though he did score in his last match, against Libya).

Not that Jordan & Budalic are bad players or anything, it would have been nice however to field a full-strength Canadian side in what is for Canada a very high-profile friendly. However the Canadian team should be very enthusiastic in this match, especially those younger players who are looking to impress, so it could very well indeed be a good match.

 

Canizales is an interesting striker with talent for more. He's playing pretty good for Werder's reserves. In Bremen he's usually at the right place to move up to the pros, but they have enough good strikers (Ailton, Charisteas, Daun - latter one only on loan for one further season) and in the reserves he has Paraguayan Nelson Haedo-Valdez ahead of him.

The German roster will be announced next Monday.

 

Re: Some Player Notes

Steve Nash is Nowitzki's best friend in Dallas, they share lots of time together. German media acknowledges that and sometimes adds that also Nash played good

Hockey in Brazil??? How does this look like???

Barsinghausen is a sports school near Hannover btw.

 

Re Hockey in Brazil

Canadians will play hockey anywhere. I know of a bunch that used to rent the only available ice in Hong Kong for a weekly game of 'pickup' hockey. I think they play in Dubai as well.

Why the reference to Barsinghausen??

 

Re: Re Hockey in Brazil

I think the CSA release mentions that that is where the Canadian team is staying.

Some suggestion in Canada that Stalteri might play as a lone striker for Canada in this match, which might raise a few eyebrows in Bremen. I hope he starts in midfield.

 

Re: Re Hockey in Brazil

As it was mentioned in a post above.

 

kicker article: Why the test against Canada is so important for Völler

Canada- Scotland – Faroes. Rudi Völler will today name 22 players for these games. “Our players should not get out of the rhythm, that’s why I’m very happy about the test against Canada”, said Völler about the sense of the last home game of the season against new North Americans that are coached by the former DFB Coach and Beckenbauer assistant Holger Osieck. Völler: “For Bernd Schneider, Fredi Bobic, Arne Friedrich and others, who did not play last weekend, this test is an ideal opportunity.”

Oliver Kahn, Michael Ballack, Jens Jeremies and Miroslav Klose are not available for the final test before the two EC qualifiers due to the cup final. The other 18 players meet on Thursday to an eight days training camp in Wolfsburg before flying to Glasgow.

Völler has to do without Hamann, Metzelder, Lehmann and Ziege again. Otherwise Völler hopes on the strongest roster. At the last friendly 15 players were missing. In any case he will nominate Kahn, Rost and Butt as goalies. During the week it will be decided if all three are doing the road trip.


The meanwhile released German roster for the Canada game + the EC qualifiers against Scotland and the Faroes.

GOALIES
Jörg Butt, Leverkusen, 29 years old, 2 caps, 0 goals
Oliver Kahn, Bayern, 33, 58/0*
Frank Rost, Schalke, 29, 2/0

DEFENDER
Frank Baumann, Bremen, 27, 15/2
Arne Friedrich, Berlin, 24, 7/0
Michael Hartmann, Berlin, 28, 1/0
Andreas Hinkel, Stuttgart, 21, 1/0
Tobias Rau, Wolfsburg, 21, 2/0
Marko Rehmer, Berlin, 31, 31/4
Christian Wörns, Dortmund, 32, 44/0

MIDFIELD
Michael Ballack, Bayern, 26, 32/12*
Jörg Böhme, Schalke, 29, 10/1
Paul Freier, Bochum, 23, 8/0
Torsten Frings, Dortmund, 26, 21/2
Jens Jeremies, Bayern, 29, 46/1*
Sebastian Kehl, Dortmund, 23, 15/3
Carsten Ramelow, Leverkusen, 29, 37/1
Bernd Schneider, Leverkusen, 29, 23/1

FORWARDS
Fredi Bobic, Hannover, 31, 23/4
Miroslav Klose, Kaiserslautern, 24, 27/14*
Kevin Kuranyi, Stuttgart, 21, 2/0
Benjamin Lauth, 1860, 21, 2/0
Oliver Neuville, Leverkusen, 30, 40/4

*= not against Canada

 

So, can anyone provide some details on the German players who were not in past World Cup squads (as those players I am fairly familiar with). In particular, in the absense of Ballack, who would take his spot as the creative/offensive midfielder? I recall in the World Cup final that Jeremies replaced Ballack in midfield and most of the offensive chances for Germany were created through Bernd Schneider on the right side of midfield. Is that what we are likely to see again, or are players like Böhme and Freier (both of whom I have never seen play) able to step into Ballack's normal role?

Having Frings & Ramelow listed as midfielders is interesting - in the World Cup they seemed to both play as part of the back four. I can foresee Ramelow perhaps playing the sort of role that Hamann would normally play, a defensive midfielder playing in front of the back four, but I am curious if there is enough room on the right side of midfield for both Schneider & Frings, am I correct in guessing that it is unlikely both will start?

 

The role of Ballack usually goes to Frings then.
He is a player who is able to play almost every position if necessary.

The starting eleven could be:

-------------------Rost--------------------

Friedrich----Woerns----Baumann----Rau

------------------Ramelow----------------

Schneider---------Frings---------Boehme

------------Klose----------Bobic-----------


Frings did play this position in the Championsleague against Real Madrid for example.
And he did very well.
There are some players which will be defenetily starting: Worns, Baumann, Friedrich, Ramelow, Schneider, Frings, Klose.

But of course there could be some surprises.

 

Thanks for that Germanshepard. Can you tell me more about Friedrich? I'm used to seeing a 3-5-2, is it more likely the Germans will play with four in the back?

I believe Klose will miss the Canada game due to the final, might we see Kuranyi instead? I've heard lots of positive things about him, or is it a case of the hype getting ahead of a young player with only two caps?

It looks like a decent side, even while missing a lot of players. Canada is also missing a lot of their top players, so I think it should be a fair game, even if it isn't even.

olafgb> any opinions on the German team and what we might expect?

cheers,
hobbes

 

Regarding the tactical formation Völler occasionally switches from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2. I'd expect the same lineup as Germanshepherd except Kuranyi or Lauth instead of Klose of course.

Friedrich was transfered to Berlin before this season and had a good season start. After just two Bundesliga games he had his debut in the national team (all time record). He's a modern defender type, who does not merely concentrate on not allowing the opponent to score, but also tries to push the offence. He knows what to do with the ball, can initiate attacks, he can go over the wings and provide the strikers with crosses, he has a pretty good distance shot and is dangerous with his head at corner kicks. In his rookie season he played 33 of 34 games and scored 5 goals, usually as central defender, sometimes as right backer.

Kuranyi might start. I think Bobic is seeded and he gets the partner Völler believes to be fitting to him. Bobic is a mere finisher, who waits for crosses and converts them. Kuranyi is a healthy mixture of a finisher and assistant. He finished 5th in the scorer ranking with 15 goals and 9 assists. Actually he's got everything you need to be successful, but I got the feeling that he still needs to be accustomed to the national team. Lauth is another option, but he's currently not in a good shape. Lauth is a playing forward (7th in the scorer ranking, 13+7) with good technical skills, who often creates chances for himself by quick moves or he uses his speed for counter attacks. Völler might also use the experienced version with Neuville, who is in a horrible shape this season but would fit to Bobic as Neuville is rather coming over the wings and can provide Bobic with the crosses he needs.

I also think that Frings will get another chance as playmaker. Last time in the NT he failed on this position, so I think this will be his last chance to prove himself before returning to the right wing or right backer role (where he has to go anyway after Ballack's return). Schneider had a solid shape in the NT this year (unlike in Leverkusen...); when in mood, he uses the right wing as his show stage and creates lots of pressure over there. Böhme only is a candidate for the left wing; a diva player, who can play world class but also extremely horrible; in the NT he usually choses latter option. He can be very creative, has a brilliant shot from everywhere, but currently he's not in this shape. Freier is not in the first category of the NT yet. You can always bring him as add-on, but starting would be too much. As unexperienced player he is often put just somewhere in the midfield where they need him, but he doesn't get the chance to be the playmaker. In his current shape this would be too much for him.

Ramelow and Frings played in the defence at the WC, that's right. But meanwhile the defence improved, also due to Friedrich. This allows Ramelow to play his usual position as defensive mid. In the NT this position is usually occupied by Hamann and a bit more in the offence by Ballack, so Völler likes to put him back to the defence before having him on the bench. In Leverkusen he also goes back to the defence in case of injury trouble. Without Jeremies, Hamann and Ballack you can expect Ramelow as defensive mid though.

 

Should be an interesting match that I predict Canada will keep close for about the first fifty minutes or so. But experience will prevail and the Germans will go on a late tear, winning 2:0 or 3:0. I'd love to see a surprise Canuck victory, but I just don't see it in the cards, especially in Deutschland.

 

Thanks olafgb, I realized after I posted I knew who Friedrich is. He missed the World Cup due to injury or was he just not selected? Will Rau really start at left back? No space for Kehl or Rehmer? I thought Kehl was the next big hope.

I'm cautiously feeling pretty good about this match. I hope Jazic is up to the task of dealing with Schneider. I'm not afraid of Frings as a playmaker (he's a very good player, but I'm not sure he's suited to that spot) and our defensive midfielders should be a strength. I don't expect our forwards will trouble such a seasoned back line and I don't know if our back (whoever they might be) can deal with your strikers (whoever they might be), but as long as we aren't pinned back, I'm hopeful we can hold the ball in midfield and create some chances.

Should be fun in any event.

cheers,
hobbes