Germany, euro 2008, european championships, profile, GermanGermany's European Championships Record

Germany qualified for the Euro 2008 tournament by finishing runners up in group D to the Czech Republic, with 8 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat, and also breaking the record of biggest victory in qualifying with a 13-0 away win to San Marino. The main positive that Germany can take from their Euro 2008 qualification campaign is the fact that the transition from Klinsmann to new manager Löw has been so seamless. On taking control 'Jogi' insisted he would be looking to continue the attacking philosophy developed by Klinsmann and himself.

With Germany's record in Group D, it is hard to find negatives from their qualifying campaign. However, the main question mark over the team remains the goalkeeper. Jens Lehmann remains the first-choice even though he has been demoted to second-choice at his club side Arsenal and is struggling to feature for the gunners. The danger for Joachim Löw is that he goes into the finals with a keeper who has not had regular first team action. Designated second-choice Timo Hildebrand is in a similar situation over at Valencia, having not replaced Santi Canizares as first-choice following his summer transfer from Stuttgart.

Germany have been placed on group B of the euro 2008 finals along with Croatia, Austria and Poland, and should easily progress from the groups into the later stages of the competition. Germany will always be one of the favorites as they are one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European championships (no other team has won the European championship as many times, the most recent being in Euro 96), also Germany has not lost a penalty shootout in major international tournaments. In fact, the last penalty missed by a German player dates back to the semi-finals of the 1982 World Cup.

Another factor not to be discounted is the venues of the finals in the summer. Although not home soil, the fact that the 2008 finals tournament is being shared by close neighbours Austria and Switzerland will surely be an added advantage for the German team.

Germany's Euro 2008 Fixtures: