Ghana Vrs Germany: What You Need to Know About Black Stars’ Next World Cup Opponents-Germany (Die Mannschaft)

On Saturday night at 19:00 GMT, the Black Stars of Ghana will go up against the might of Germany. Here’s a profile of the German team, Die Mannschaft.

There are some great nicknames in world football, whether club or country. Personally, there isn’t one I like pronouncing more than Die Mannschaft. I speak no Deutsch, but the name has a way of rolling of one’s tongue. The awesomeness of the name is only matched by the awesomeness of the national side it describes.

The German football team, like Germany herself, has a storied history. The team has played in the past as both East and West Germany, with their records being synchronised following the fall of the Berlin wall. This creates one of the most decorated sides in world football, and it is that might that the Black Stars has to contend with if they are to qualify from Group G.

Germany has won three FIFA world cup trophies, more than any other side not named Brazil or Italy. More impressive is their haul of three European Championships, a feat not matched by any side on the continent. By comparison, Italy with their four world cup trophies has only one European championship crown.

Germany was one of the earliest sides to qualify from Europe for the mundial, comfortably topping their group ahead of Sweden, Austria, and the Republic of Ireland. Their first game, a 4-0 demolition of fellow group favourites Portugal, should put the Black Stars on alert for what to expect from the fabled ‘German machine’.

And there is a reason for that nickname, reserved not just for their football team but for everything German. German efficiency and precision is one of the few constants of this world, and the amount of talent this current team is packing is enough to send shivers down the spine of any team, anytime.

In Manuel Neuer they have arguably the best goalie on the planet right now. In Philipp Lahm, they have one of the most technically proficient players of our time. Pep Guardiola was so in awe of Lahm’s ‘footballing brain’ that he played him more in midfield than in his regular position of full-back.

Their midfield is likewise packed, with Bastian Schweinsteigger, Toni Kroos, and Sami Khedira just three of the myriad of names waiting in there. In fact, listing the stars in this team would be a futile exercise, as they are well stocked all around from defence, through midfield, to attack.

One last player who deserves a special mention though, is Thomas Mueller. The top-scorer from South Africa 2010, Mueller is the kind of player whom you don’t quite know what he does on the pitch but he is always in the right place at the right time. This knack for scoring has seen him evolve from an advanced midfielder-cum-winger into a fully fledged centre forward; and in case you had forgotten about him he bagged a hat-trick in Germany’s Group G opening day 4-0 demolishing of Portugal, all in a day’s work for the Bayern Munich forward.

The severity of the task facing the Stars cannot be emphasised enough. This German team is not just made up of the big names, they also have a knack for making it far ahead in the competitions they are involved in. Since Joachim Loew took over, they were finalists in Euro 2008 and semi-finalists in South Africa 2010 and Euro 2012- and in all instances they pretty much steamrollered their way through the early stages of the tournament.

The one knock against this team is their proclivity to choke up when the big games come around, which is why they have made so many finals and semi finals but always fall short of winning, however that is not a luxury we have right now. This is the group stages, and if Ghana needed any warning we can just look back to the 4-0 humbling Portugal were handed on Monday.

Or we can look back to South Africa, were a Mezut Ozil shot gave Germany a narrow 1-0 win over the Stars. In what was a very tight game, the Germans got the slender win but Ghana qualified alongside them nonetheless. That was a Black Stars team with a real spine, a tactically disciplined approach and a solid backline; the 2014 version is more suspect, and if anything this porous backline which conceded twice against the USA due to poor organisation are going to have their work cut out for them against the Thomas Muellers and Marco Reus’ of this world.

The loss against the USA means from this moment on mistakes are at a premium, and a game which we realistically should be expecting a draw from is now a must win. These German players are experts in negotiating passage from the group stages, and a win on Saturday would make that a virtual certainty. The Black Stars can afford nothing less than a win, and the best way to do that would be to throw a wrench into this well-oiled German machine.