The Giant Germans

The Junkiez continue to analyze International teams and link physicality to style of play and next on the list is Germany. There's only one thing that these guys have in common. They all remind you of that freak at your gym. Germany has always produced the biggest footballers and despite the valiant and admirable attempts made by Ozil and Lahm to break the trend, Germany still stands safely at the top of the "Average Weight" and "Average Height" rankings. Here's the line-up: Manuel Neuer ( 6ft 4" and 200lbs), Mats Hummels ( 6ft 3" and 200lbs), Per Mertesacker (6ft 6", 187lbs), Bastien Schweinsteiger ( 6ft 0", 174lbs), Mario Gomez ( 6ft 2 1/2", 187lbs). Really? Is this the WWE?

Now, when 9 of 11 players on the field are above 6ft tall, its easy to see why Germany are always a great threat from set pieces, especially when they always seem to have a Ozil to swing the crosses in. Their vertical dominance, however, seems to be best expressed defensively. At six feet plenty, Germans are defensively well placed. Set pieces are defended easily, and their long reaches mean that their sliding tackles stretch to infinity and beyond. Their weight also allows them to push the opponent off the ball and play a more physical game. Its also more defensively assuring to have a giant between the sticks. Oliver Khan (6ft 2"), Jens Lehmann (6ft 3") and Manuel Neuer (6ft 4") represent commanding penalty area presences. Germany are known for their powers of penalty taking. The specialist say penalty taking is about psychological as much as technical dominance. So the secret behind Germany's penalty success is absolutely crystal as a man 6ft 6" is much more intimidating than one 5ft 7''.

There is only one possible downside to the German style of play. In this era of obsession with player protection and "beautiful" football and the increased number of Olympic divers in the sport, Germans are quickly penalized by referees for as much as rubbing on another player. No matter how good a team is......if you're 1 man down, you're gonna find it hard to win games.

Kareem.......signin' out!

The Portuguese Pretty Boys

The Junkiez would be exploring 5 international teams and link physicality to the counrty's football. First the Portuguese Pretty Boys, headed by Ronaldo, Quaresma and Nani. Over the years Portugal have been known to produce the most fancy wingers known to world football. Figo, Ronaldo, Quaresma, Nani, Simao......and the list goes on. Its almost as if to be in the Portuguese team the requirement is to move your feet 5 rpms a second! When you hear "pretty" used as a football terms, you think of fancy footwork, bended free kicks and inch-perfect crosses.

The only down-side is that pretty in football also brings with it "soft". The players sometimes lack that physicality in thier game and they sometimes have to rely on their speed and not strength to win balls. They are also get frustrated easily, its as if they' ve been spoilt their entire lives and as soon as a Cambiasso or a De Rossi runs them over they want to cry. They also concede many fouls, as you expect from footballers whose main goal seems to be to embarass the opposition. This can be both good and bad since one of two things can happen. 1. Someone can step up and bend the ball into the onion bag or place a cross right on your eyelids OR the referee begins to get fed up with you and totally ignore you EVERYTIME.

All in all Portugal has brought nothing but interest and flair into this beautiful sport. Not every team in the world produce 7 out of 11 players that can move the ball so fast it breaks your ankles, bend a ball like a boomerang or could place a cross on your nose-peak. I mean lets be serious.....RICARDO can do it! God Bless the Portuguese.