After a woeful outing at last World Cup in Russia where Germany finished last in their group despite being the defending champions, the Germans are desperate to return to winning ways in the mundial when they take on Japan in their opening Group E encounter.
Saudi Arabia’s victory over Argentina yesterday has send shock waves down the spines of so called big teams. Germany are ranked 11th in the world, 13 places above Japan, yet Germany’s gaffer, Hansi Flick said, “We saw that everything is possible but that makes it so beautiful and interesting-never underestimate your opponent.”
Both sides are meeting at the World Cup for the first time. But their previous two meetings in friendly matches saw the Europeans grab one win and a draw.
This is Germany’s 20th World Cup appearance. Making them the second team after Brazil to reach the 20-participation mark in the tournament. The last time they failed to qualify was in 1950.
Japan has always qualified for the World Cup since 1998, the second longest streak of qualifying for the World Cup by an Asian side behind South Korea who are making their 10th consecutive appearance.
In the Group’s second match, 2010 champions Spain will take on Costa Rica in their first ever World Cup meeting.
