Germany qualified for the World Cup, virtue of a second place finish behind England at the EuroHockey Nations Tournament in Amstelveen.
Reigning Olympic champions and two time defending world champions, Germans are the hot favourites to become the first nation to win the FIH World Cup three times in a row.
If India boast of a rich history in Olympics, Germany rule the roast when it comes to the World Cups. Germany have lost only three of their 30 World Cup matches since 1994, and have not lost to other opponents than Spain since 1994.
Head coach Markus Weise is looking for his fourth major international prize after winning the 2004 Olympic Games with Germany`s women, striking gold in the 2007 Champions Trophy with Germany`s men and winning an Olympic gold medal with the same team in 2008.
The best-knit and a balanced team in fray, Germany would seek that ‘extra inspiration’ from Christopher Zeller, an astute striker, beside being one of the world`s most feared penalty corner specialists.
Christopher was also the second highest goal scorer during Germany’s victorious World Cup campaign at Mönchengladbach in 2006
Infact, in Sebastian Biederlack, Philipp Crone, Björn Emmerling, Christian Schulte, Tibor Weissenborn, Timo Wess and Matthias Witthaus, Germans have included seven players that were previously part of Germany`s two World Cup winning squads.
Florian Fuchs is being tipped as the man for the future, who inspite of being the youngest of all players at the 2009 Champions Trophy, he netted five times.
Germany is among five ever-present nations at the FIH World Cup.
