The German soccer team always seems to be underrated by the world media, it might be due to the fact that their domestic league isn't one of the strongest in Europe or that there don't seem to be that many German players playing for clubs outside of Europe, or it could be a combination of both. Whatever the reason for this assumption, it is wrong. Germany have now qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa with one qualifying game to spare after beating Russia 1-0 at the weekend.
They may not necessarily have the huge house-hold names of some nations but they always seem to get the results that matter. They have made the final of the World cup seven times and have made it to the semi-final another three times on top of that. They are the third most successful nation in World Cup History, after Brazil and Italy, having won it three times.
There were rumours that the Germans were so confident of qualifying for the tournament that they had booked their hotel in Centurion, near Pretoria, before the game in Russia had even started. This turned out to be false as the luxurious Velmore Hotel confirmed the booking was made just less than 24 hours after the Germans had beaten Russia.
The luxury Velmore Hotel will only be finished next month, but the German Football Association (DFB) have already booked an entire wing for the tournament which runs from June 11 until July 11.
The hotel, which has 90 rooms, is in Centurion, a town with a population of 280,000 located between the South African capital and Johannesburg, not far from five of the ten venues.
Germany coach Joachim Low and team manager Oliver Bierhoff visited the hotel during the FIFA Confederation Cup 2009 and the reservation was confirmed in the wake of Germany's 1-0 win over Russia on Saturday.
By Nicholas Krige
