Joachim Löw has revitalised his squad with a fresh, bold multicultural approach When Sami Khedira and his Under-21 team‑mates held aloft the European Championship trophy last summer, after humbling England 4–0 in the final, they dreamed of changing the face of German football. Little did they know that their opportunity would come so quickly. After Euro 2008, Joachim Löw, the Germany manager, accepted the need to “rejuvenate” a squad that had become too heavily seasoned in parts. He has done so in spectacular fashion. Germany have only nine survivors from that tournament here. (It is worth remembering that they were runners-up in Austria and Switzerland.) And once Löw had done with filleting his squad, the players he turned to were almost all from the next generation. • Follow the Guardian’s World Cup team on Twitter • Sign up to play our great Fantasy Football game • Stats centre: Get the lowdown on every player • The latest team-by-team news, features and more Khedira, the U-21 captain during that heady campaign in Sweden, and five of his team‑mates, including Mesut Ozil, who had orchestrated the destruction of Stuart Pearce’s England, were given the call and so were four other youngsters who were eligible for the U-21 finals. Two of those, Thomas Müller and Holger Badstuber, were not selected for Sweden simply because they had not yet emerged from Bayern Munich’s reserves. Their progress over this past season has been startling. Löw’s squad bristles with the exuberance and fearlessness of youth. “Roughly half the squad is 24 or younger,” Löw said – the precise number is 12 – “and they bring a freshness and hunger that can only be helpful.” It was very much in evidence as Germany opened their Group
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