Once again, the result of Germany vs. Argentina has sided with modern history. I eluded briefly to the history behind this fixture in a preview to the quarter finals and like in 1990 and 2006 it’s the Germans who have emerged victorious. Germany continued their superb form through to the quarter final match and won 4-0 with goals from Muller, Klose (x2) and Friedrich. Germany seem to have the game one in every area of the pitch.
The build up to this World Cup has been as much about who may not be there as to who will be there. Players have been ruling themselves out of matches or getting serious injury scares. It seems that a high proportion of these players, often influential players, are based in England and play in the Premier League.
Three times World Cup winners Germany prepared for the World Cup by beating a selection local players aged under 20 from Eppan in South Tirol by 24 goals to nil. The Germans, who beat Hungary in the 1954 final, Holland in the 1974 final and Argentina in the 1990 final – have thumped a few sides in their time, however the biggest World Cup victory remains the 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in 2002.
World Cup finalist in 2006 Franck Ribery has signed a new five year contract with Bayern Munich, which ends any speculations of the winger joining Real Madrid. The France international has been continuously linked with the nine times European Champions over the past two season however by penning a new deal which commits him to the Bundesliga champions until 30 June, 2015 has ended any possibility of a move. France will look to Ribery as the tailisman of the side – much like the weight placed on the shoulders of legendary playmaker Zinedine Zidane.
Yesterday Bayern won 3:0 against the former season champion Wolfsburg with an extraordinary playing Arjen Robben who just arrived from Real Madrid on Friday.
Stuttgart manager Markus Babbel says Klaas-Jan Huntelaar would be the perfect replacement for Mario Gomez, who has joined Bayern Munich, and is confident in signing the Dutch forward – who is yet to play in a World Cup Finals. The move could be exactly what is needed for the striker – who will no doubt be looking to South Africa next summer and considering the competition now at Madrid – a move to Germany will be welcomed.
No sooner than Karim Benzema had joined Madrid, as reported yesterday, Franck Ribery has declared that he wants to leave Bayern Munich for, yep you guessed it, Real Madrid. So far, Madrid have spent £80 Million on Cristiano Ronaldo, £56Million on Kaka, £35 Million on Karim Benzema and around £16Million for Raúl Albiol.
Wolfsburg super striker and goal-machine Edin Dzeko is set to hold talks with the German champions regarding his future, according to Jurgen Marbach a club executive. Dzeko (26) and Grafite (28) formed a superb partnership and dominated the Bundesliga scoring charts hitting 49 goals between them.
World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane has revealed that Real Madrid are in talks with Bayern Munich to purchase the French winger Franck Ribery. Zidane played alongside Ribery in the 2006 World Cup finals when France reached the World Cup final but lost on penalties to Italy. Zidane will be best remembered for his two headed goals against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final – rather than his headbutt on Italian defender Marco Materazzi.
The Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has stated that the club will only consider selling Franck Ribery if his club receive a ‘crazy’ bid for the France international midfielder. Bayern Munich, who finished runners up to Wolfsberg this season, will be looking to keep hold of their prized possession, especially with Manchester United lurking after the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.
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