GERMAN TEAM

The Germany national football team (German: Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), founded in 1900.Ever since the DFB was reinaugurated in 1949 the team has represented the Federal Republic of Germany – until the German reunification in 1990 commonly referred to as West Germany in informal usage.

Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams were also recognized by FIFA: the Saarland team (1950–1956) and the East German team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). Both have been absorbed along with their records by the current national team. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following the reunification in 1990.

Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990) and three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996). They have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and have won a further four third places.

East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups. The current coaching staff of the national team include head coach Joachim Löw, assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick, goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke, athletic coach Shad Forsythe, athletic coach Oliver Bartlett, scout Urs Siegenthaler, team manager Oliver  Bierhoff.

In Germany, the team is typically simply referred to as the Nationalmannschaft (national team), DFB-Elf (DFB eleven), DFB-Auswahl (DFB selection) or Nationalelf (national eleven). Whereas in foreign media, they are regularly described as (Die) Mannschaft (literally meaning "The Team"). The expression Die Adler (The Eagles) is also used.

Current squad

This is the current team for the FIFA World Cup 2014