Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou sees parallels between Australia and Germany in the way the Germans regenerated their national team and the game's structures over the last 15 years.
Speaking on the eve of the two teams’ friendly in Kaiserslautern on Wednesday night (Thursday morning AEDT), Postecoglou expressed his admiration for the way the Germans took a new approach to their football, resulting in winning the FIFA World Cup last year.
It’s an approach that resonates with the Socceroo coach after his 17-month tenure has featured as its centre-piece a much-needed and major regeneration process.
Who should start for the Socceroos against Germany?
One which, like Germany, has resulted in a major trophy won with a fearless, dynamic and entertaining style of play.
“They [Germany] have been pretty disciplined since 2000. They made a conscious decision to do things a certain way and adopt a certain philosophy not in terms of the way they play their football but more importantly an over-riding philosophy around their national team,” Postecoglou told FFA TV.
“And it’s continuing now we’ve seen them win the World Cup but they’re taking the opportunity in this early part of the cycle to regenerate their team to make sure they’re always looking ahead.
“There’s obviously some synergy there with what we want to do. Some of the lessons we’ve learnt in recent times is that if you don’t regenerate the team you could get caught short.”
As for the team he puts out against Germany, it is still a wait-and-see approach for Postecoglou.
“Guys are literally arriving 48 hours before the game,” he said.
“And with so many playing over the weekend we knew we wouldn’t be making those decisions till the players arrive [in camp] and we had a good look at them.
“How they recovered from their weekend whether it’s travel or the weekend games, we’ll make decisions from there.”
Postecoglou added: “They [Germany] are the best in the world at the moment, and there’s nothing like measuring yourself against that.”
*Germany will wear black ribbons in honour of those who died in a Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps overnight. There’ll also be a minute’s silence.
Socceroo Match Details
Germany v Australia
Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern
Wednesday 25 March 2015
Kick-Off: 8:30pm (CET) (6:30am (AEDT), Thursday 26 March)
Tickets for the Germany v Socceroos match in Kaiserslautern are on sale now from www.dfb.de or https://tickets.dfb.de/online/index.php3?shopid=107&gotoperformance=1849
Match will be broadcast live and exclusive on Fox Sports.
