Germany’s top stars have revealed the rituals which they hope will help the national side claim their fourth World Cup title in South Africa next month.

The Germans face Hungary in their penultimate World Cup warm-up match in Budapest on Saturday and open their South African campaign against Australia in Durban on June 13 before facing Serbia and Ghana in Group D.

Germany won the World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990 and are bidding to win a fourth title, which will give them a fourth star above the German Football Federation (DFB) badge on their traditional white shirts.

Their top players told the German fans’ website the rituals they need to experience before running out to represent their country.…

World Cup hopefuls Germany have been deal yet another blow on the injury front in the build-up toward this summer’s tournament.

According to a report in Bild, national team coach Joachim Loew will now be without the services of Schalke defender Heiko Westermann in South Africa after the 26-year-old picked up a foot injury.

Westermann sustained the injury in the dying minutes of Germany’s 3-0 international friendly win against Hungary on Saturday evening. The defender complained about pain after the game and visited the hospital on Sunday to undergo further examination.

A scan has now revealed that Westermann has fractured a bone in his left foot and will be sidelined for several weeks due to the injury.…

Goal.com has a comprehensive breakdown of the performance of each player in the friendly between Hungary and Germany, giving each player a score out of 10.

Click through to see how they rated the performance of each player in the German national team.…

Germany won a comfortable 3-0 victory against Hungary as Brazilian-born Cacau scored his third goal in two games for his adopted country.

Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez were also goalscorers in the penultimate friendly match for Germany before the World Cup.

With Germany captain Michael Ballack ruled out of next month’s World Cup through injury and substitute Philipp Lahm rested, Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose took the captaincy in Budapest.

German midfielder Sami Khedira replaced Ballack in midfield with an impressive performance before being taken off with a minor muscle injury in the second half. Had it not been for a string of saves during the first half by Hungarian keeper Gabor Kiraly, Germany’s goal tally would have been much higher.

Podolski fired a penalty shot into the top right hand corner four minutes after defender Per Mertesacker was fouled in the area.

It finished 1-0 at the break and early in the second-half national coach Joachim Loew brought on Stuttgart striker Cacau for midfielder Mesut Oezil, who had several first-half shots on goal saved.

Mario Gomez, also a substitute, added another goal from close range on 69 minutes, after being set up by Marko Marin. In a solo effort on 72 minutes, …

Germany prepare for life without captain Michael Ballack when they face Hungary in Budapest on Saturday in their penultimate World Cup warm-up.

With Ballack out with an ankle injury, Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm will take over the captain’s armband to captain the side in South Africa, but striker Miroslav Klose will lead Germany in Budapest.

The Bayern quartet of Lahm, Germany’s vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt and midfielder Thomas Mueller are being rested by Joachim Loew for the Hungary game as the coach looks at different options.

Coached by former Dutch midfielder Erwin Koeman, the Hungarians are expected to give the Germans the same kind of test at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium as Group D opponents Serbia in South Africa.…

Wolfsburg managing director Dieter Hoeness is remaining calm in response to reports that striker Edin Dzeko is close to concluding a British record transfer to Manchester City.

It was reported on Thursday that Dzeko’s representatives had held talks with City, while Tottenham and Bayern Munich are also believed to be interested in the Bosnian striker who has a buy-out clause to the value of 40 million euros (£34 million) inserted in his contract.

The clause will expire on Monday though, and it is believed City are working hard to bring Dzeko to the club as they embark on another summer of ambitious spending, with German sources confident the deal will be done.…

Coach Joachim Loew announced via a televised press conference on Friday that Philipp Lahm will replace the injured Michael Ballack as captain in South Africa, but goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn isn’t convinced Lahm is the right man for the job.

“You have a huge responsibility as captain of the national team and the player who wears the armband must always lead the way,” Kahn was quoted as saying by Munich based newspaper TZ.

“Lahm still has to prove whether he has the leadership qualities for the whole tournament. Philipp is a great footballer, but I don’t know whether he is mature enough for this.…

Most Germans would prefer watching their team contesting the World Cup final than having sex with their partners, a survey here has revealed on Thursday.

Should Joachim Loew’s side reach the final in Johannesburg on July 11, a potential night of passion would be shown the red card by most Germans in favour of the chance to see their team in action on television.

In a survey for the Reader’s Digest magazine, only five percent of those questioned would prefer a night between the sheets with their loved one to watching Germany contest the World Cup final.

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