ArgentinaArgentina - National football team
The Argentina national football team is the national association football team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Argentina has won the most international titles by any national team (19), a record shared with Uruguay.[1]
Argentina is one of the most successful national football teams in the world, and is currently seventh in the FIFA world rankings.[2] The team has twice won the FIFA World Cup, in 1978 and 1986. Argentina has won the Copa América 14 times, a record shared with Uruguay, won the Confederations Cup in 1992 and the Olympic Football Tournament in 2004 and 2008.
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Argentina and France are the only national teams which have won the three most important men's titles recognized by FIFA: the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and the Olympic tournament. They have both also won their respective continental championship (Copa América for Argentina, and UEFA European Football Championship for France).
La Selección (The selection), also known as the Albicelestes (Light blue and whites), has appeared in four World Cup finals, including the first final in 1930, which they lost 4–2 to Uruguay. Argentina won in their next final in 1978, beating the Netherlands 3–1. Argentina, led by Diego Maradona won again in 1986, a 3–2 victory over West Germany. Their most recent World Cup final was in 1990, which they lost 1–0 to Germany by a much disputed penalty. Argentina's World Cup winning managers are César Luis Menotti in 1978, and Carlos Bilardo in 1986.
Argentina has been very successful in the Copa América, winning it fourteen times and also winning the 'extra' South American Championships in 1941, 1945 and 1946. The team also won the FIFA Confederations Cup and the Kirin Cup, both in 1992, and an Argentine team (with only three players of over 23 years of age included in the squad) won the Olympics football tournaments in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.[5]
Argentina also won six of the fourteen football competitions at the Pan American Games, winning in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1971, 1995 and 2003.
In March 2007, Argentina reached the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time..
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GermanyGermany - National football team
The German national football team (German: Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the football team representing the country of Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) which was founded in 1900.
From 1950 to 1990, the team was called West Germany in English, as since World War II, the DFB is based in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) which was commonly referred to as West Germany from 1949 to 1990. The DFB continues to field the German national team that had been fully reinstated by FIFA after the 1950 FIFA World Cup, retaining all records and traditions. Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams had also been recognized by FIFA, the Saarland team (1950–1956), and the East German team (1952–1990).
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Both have been absorbed into the current national team, along with their records (caps and goal scorers). The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened again to "Germany (GER)" in 1990.
Germany is one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European championships. They are also one of the most consistent teams. Aside from winning three world and continental titles, they were also runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup and won 3rd place in the World Cup three times as well. 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, technical director Matthias Sammer and team manager Oliver Bierhoff..
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