The (un)usual suspects
The 2018 Fifa World Cup promises surprise victories and startling star turns. In anticipatory mood, the Sunday Times sports editor turns his crystal ball towards the east
Joachim Löw has gained notoriety for publicly putting his fingers in places most of us wouldn’t dare, at least not in public. During the 2010 World Cup on these shores, he stuck his forefinger in a nostril and stirred it a bit. Then he rolled the snot into a bolletjie before giving his finger a good lick. Not shy to embarrass himself in such fashion, the German coach had a repeat performance during the 2016 Euro Championship. This time he dug into the nether region, on the occasion when Germany beat Ukraine 2-0. There’s no telling if there’ll be more crotch-scratching or mucophagy as the reigning world champions’ mean machine rolls into Russia. But you can bet your last rouble that Löw, a fan of those tight-fitting white shirts with sleeves always rolled up, is ready to get his hands dirty. Only the insane can dismiss Germany as bollocks when it comes to the month-long business between the four white lines when they will play against Mexico, Sweden and South Korea in Group F.
There are plenty of plaudits in prospect for the 59-year-old Löw should Germany grab all and sundry by the scruff of the neck at the tournament, which gets under way on Thursday when the hosts square up against Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium. Success will elevate Löw into the annals of history on two fronts.
Germany seek to be only the third country in the history of the competition — after Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962 — to defend global football’s greatest prize.
Also, Löw is seven matches away from traversing a path less travelled: becoming the second coach to bang the World Cup back-to-back after Vittorio Pozzo gained such glory with Italy.
He also joins Óscar Tabárez as the second man to take a country to three consecutive World Cups.
Tabárez’s first World Cup was in 1990. He then took Uruguay to South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014 and will be there in a mobility scooter in 2018. Tabárez has
You can bet your last rouble that Löw, a fan of those tight-fitting white shirts with sleeves always rolled up, is ready to get his hands dirty
Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack its peripheral nervous system and to which Proteas fast bowler Tertius Bosch succumbed at the age of 33 in 2000.
Löw has been in charge of Germany since 2006 and such is the German Football Association’s faith in him that it extended his contract to 2022, meaning Löw’s job is safe regardless of how Die Mannschaft do in Russia.
He has been slated for committing a football injustice by omitting Leroy Sané, the Manchester City winger whose low centre of gravity, close control and burst of pace will be sorely missed.
Julian Brandt got the nod ahead of Sané. Brandt was part of a youthful German team that won the Confederations Cup last year. Such was Germany’s strength and depth that the squad was without the seniors who won the 2014 World Cup.
In this year’s team, players literally fought for a place in the final 23. Assistant coach Miroslav Klose had to intervene between Joshua Kimmich and Antonio Rüdiger, the Bayern Munich star miffed by a challenge on him by the Chelsea defender.
Goal hero will not be there
At Löw’s disposal is an embarrassment of riches drawn from outstanding clubs, among them Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Arsenal.
Manuel Neuer, Thomas Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Mesut Özil, Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira and Thomas Müller form the core group of players who have been together for some time.
The team could become the first Confederations Cup winners to also win the World Cup the following year, but they will need to do so without Mario Götze, whose extra-time volley gave Germany glory at Maracanã Stadium in Brazil four years ago.
Löw will be looking for more of the same from Timo Werner, who has upgraded to firstchoice striker and will seek to fill the Klose-shaped hole left since Miroslav retired at the summit of the World Cup goal-scorers’ chart with 16 goals.
Theirs is to endeavour to equal Brazil as five-time winners of the greatest prize in global football.
And now for the other contenders . . .