Germany

The famous saying goes that "you can never write the Germans off" and just as many people were beginning to think they weren't a force in world football Germany unleashed a new generation of stars at the World Cup 2010. These players will be even better with that experience under their belt and Germany go into Euro 2012 as a major contender.

They are the second favourites with most bookies to go all the way and having been eliminated by Spain in the final and semi finals of the last two respective major international tournaments it looks as though Germany will have no problems with beating all but one of the teams at Euro 2012. If Spain get knocked out before coming up against Germany you'd have to make the Germans red hot favourites.

Best Bets On Germany At Euro 2012

Here are the best bets on Germany at Euro 2012 in the most popular betting markets:

Germany To Win Euro 2012

Germany have been eliminated by Spain in the last two major international tournaments and if both teams win their groups as expected they should meet in the final. There is cause for thinking that Germany may have improved past Spain in the last couple of years, it was a young team that went to the World Cup and the addition of Mario Gomez in attack seems to have made the Germans even more potent. Germany won all ten qualifying games and should they win their group their quarter final and semi final matches could turn out easier than their group games against Holland and Portugal.

Mario Gomez To Euro 2012 Golden Boot

Mario Gomez may not have been Germany's top scorer in qualifying but he was only one goal away and he spent less time on the pitch than the top scorer Miroslav Klose. It looks highly likely that these two players won't both start at the Euros and towards the end of qualifying it looked as though Mario Gomez was winning the selection battle of the two strikers. Germany are an extremely high scoring team, they averaged over three goals a game in qualifying and with Gomez looking the most likely top scorer for Germany he therefore becomes the most likely Golden Boot given that he should get six games to score four or five goals in.

Germany To Win Group B

Germany have been drawn in the toughest group of all but one of the teams is going to have to win Group B and having won all ten qualifying games Germany look the most likely to do it. Holland made it further than Germany at the World Cup but that doesn't make them a better team, it was simply the draw which determined that Germany played Spain before Holland did. Germany arguably have a better team than Holland and certainly have a better recent pedigree in this tournament, they have reached the final twice in the last four attempts.

Germany To Gain 7 Points In Group B

If Germany are going to win the group then they are probably going to get six, seven or nine points, only one team has won a European Championships group with five points in the last sixteen years. Germany won all ten qualifying games but they didn't face teams as strong as Holland and Portugal and in all likelihood Germany will drop points against one of those teams making six and seven points the most likely outcomes for Germany. Seven points would probably gurantee Germany top the group, especially as they score so many goals, and that looks the most likely points tally for Germany in Group B.

Germany Qualifying Results

Germany were the only team other than Spain to qualify for Euro 2012 with a 100% winning record, although Germany managed to win ten matches whilst Spain, who were in a smaller group, only won eight games. Germany had some tough teams in their group, Belgium are an emerging force in international football with several talented youngsters coming through the ranks whilst Austria and Turkey are no pushovers either. Germany continued where they left off at the World Cup, scoring plenty of goals in qualifying, their goals scored tally was only better by Holland who scored eleven goals in one of their matches to trump Germant in that department.

Germany Euro 2012 Squad

This is the predicted 23 man Germany Euro 2012 squad, when the final squad is announced the squad will be updated:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Rene Adler, Tim Wiese.

Defenders: Benedikt Howedes, Heiko Westermann, Jerome Boateng, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Mats Hummels, Dennis Aogo. 

Midfielders: Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Gotze, Marko Marin, Marco Reus.

Forwards: Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose, Cacau, Andre Schurrle

Germany Player Stats From Euro 2012 Qualifying

Germany Player's Goal Stats

Here are the most important goal stats from Germany's Euro 2012 qualifying group. Use these to pick the best goalscorer bets on Germany's games at Euro 2012.

*All stats reflect bookies rules for own goals and 90 mins play in their respective markets. Five other Germany players scored a single goal in qualification and there were also two own goals.

Miroslav Klose dominates the first goalscorer stats for Germany, the giant scored the first goal in all but one of his starts and also scored in every match he played in so he looks a good bet to score first and anytime whenever he starts. Klose also scored more last goals than any other Germany player so when starting Klose should also be considered for last goalscorer bets too. Mario Gomez also had a great goalscoring return, Gomez often played second fiddle to Klose in the side but got more starts in the second half of the campaign,Gomez also looks a great anytime scorer bet whenever he starts.

Mesut Ozil proved he has a great eye for goal in qualifying with six goals from nine starts, he only scored in four games though which isn't a bad return but isn't amazing either, his price to score anytime in Germany matches should determine how good a bet he is to score.

Germany Players' Disciplinary Stats

Check Germany's yellow and red card stats below to help highlight the best bets in the cards markets for Germany's Euro 2012 matches.

Germany picked up seven yellow cards in qualifying and they were split between seven players. Benedikt Howedes, Holger Badstuber and Sami Khedira were the Germany players to pick up the first yellow card of the game during Germany's ten game qualifying campaign but perhaps the most likely player to pick up yellow cards at Euro 2012 for Germany could be Bastien Schweinsteiger, the midfielder has a fiery nature and has been sent off at a major international tournament before.

Germany Team Stats From Euro 2012 Qualifying

Germany's team stats can be found below, these stats can be applied to a multitude of match markets during Euro 2012.

Germany were high scorers in qualifying, scoring on average 3.4 goals per game. Germany play with a very attacking style and proved at the World Cup that they can score plenty of goals against the big international sides as well as the smaller ones like they have done recently. One stat that stands out from Germany's qualification campaign is their first half clean sheets, they only conceded in the first half in one qualifying match.

Germany often score in both halves of their matches, as you'd expect from a high scoring team, and they seem to score more goals in the second half of their matches than the first half. Given that they also concede more in the second half too there may be in running betting opportunities based on the second half of their games having more goals than the first half.

Germany won all their qualifying matches which shows they will be tough to beat at Euro 2012, they held the lead in eight matches at half time and they won both halves of the match in five of their matches which is a pretty good record and shows their dominance in their qualification group.

Germany Recent European Championships Performances

Germany have a very strong record at recent European Championships, appearing the final twice in four attempts. Germany won the Euros in 1996 and were runners up to Spain in 2008, Germany would go on to be knocked out by Spain in the World Cup semi finals two years later. Germany have also shown a slightly inconsistent side in recent years by being eliminated at the group stage in both 2000 and 2004. In those years the team was in a bit of a transition phase and they are certainly strong now.