Germany manager Joachim Low, after all, decided to leave behind the leader in the FTBL ranking of German strikers, Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling. Is it because the youngster has never played for the national team and Low is loath to experiment in such a crucial game?
It is almost a certainty that the German attack will consist of FC Köln’s Lukas Podolski (pictured right) and Bayern Munich’s Miroslav Klose (pictured left). The duet is full of experience: they have approximately 150 Bundesliga games between them. The FTBL rating also shows they are good choices: Podolski is 2nd and Klose 3rd in our ranking of German forwards.
But the choice of the other two forwards, if nothing else, elicits surprise. Mario Gómez has long ago ceased to play more than 45 minutes at Bayern and has not scored a single goal in his last 5 games. His FTBL rating has slumped from 170 to 101 points in just the last 2 months. Low’s third choice, Stuttgart’s Cacau, has an overall FTBL rating of just 50.88 points and has scored just 9 goals in his last 18 months.
In the meantime, Werder Bremen’s Aaron Hunt has been stellar. But his debut for the German team so far appears to remain hostage to by a bitter racism-tinged scandal. Low probably sees no worst than us and will go on the lookout for a backup to his favorite duet right after the conclusion of the qualifying round.
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