Legendary Berti Vogts Will Battle His Home Nation.
After grabbing a pivotal three points in Belgium on the weekend, Germany host Azerbaijan today in what should be a one-sided goal-fest. While Joachim Loew has called for focus in his pre-match press conference, Germany’s attacking stars should fully take advantage of an Azerbaijani side who are ranked 106th by FIFA.
While the Azerbaijani side harbor no household names, their manager is certainly one any German fan will immediately recognize: Berti Vogts. ‘Der Terrier,’ as he is known, for his undying determination and workrate. Vogts famously marked Johan Cruijff in the 1974 World Cup final which Germany went on to win. Vogts, later on in his career, managed the German national team to a European Championship victory in 1996, but had very little success anywhere else as a manager. That’s probably how he got the Azerbaijan job!
Loew’s side will likely be in full control here, with Azerbaijan sitting back and soaking up the pressure. Germany will look to score goals at every opportunity, and there will likely be lots of opportunities. Klose recently spoke about breaking the German all-time goalscoring record, and there’s no better place to start than against Azerbaijan.
Loew will likely field his preferred eleven;
Neuer – Lahm, Mertesacker, Badstuber, Jansen – Khedira, Schweinsteiger – Mueller, Ozil, Podolski – Klose
Azerbaijan’s squad have only two players that even play outside of the country, and I’m not too sure the Azerbaijani premier league is really up to snuff. This should be a real walk in the park for Germany.
So, who’s better — Azerbaijan or Belarus?
Yeah, I know the answer (105, 78.) But clichés have a grain of truth in them. And this one is “there are no easy games, unless you’re playing San Marino, Faroes, Lichtenstein, Andorra or Luxembourg.”
Then again, the German players aren’t a bunch of basket cases, nor are they missing more than half a team through injury. Nor will Löw allow them to be complacent. I just wonder if he’ll futz with the line-up.
I think Azerbaijan is in the Faroe Islands bracket actually. Everything is against them here, too. And I want Klose to break that record.
I can’t wait til Dzeko tears France to bits as well. That’ll be a great game.