Germany, Bundesliga, and Bayern Talk; Transfers and Rumours

Germany play Korea DPR today; but unfortunately, here in Asia, ESPN is airing the Seniors' Tour. I almost forgot to mention that the game is an U-20 Women's World Cup game. Apparently, watching golf is more interesting.

Keeping aside all sarcasm, let's get to all the news:

Germany

Joachim Loew has extended his contract with the DFB until 2012. This basically means that he will lead the team through the qualifying campaign and hopefully to Euro 2012. Assistant coach Hansi Flick , goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke , and team manager Oliver Bierhoff also put pen to paper on new two-year deals.

Loew has to be praised for what he has done since 2006. The team that he built with Jurgen Klinsmann was a breath of fresh air. In 2008, Loew's team finished as runners-up in the European Championships by grinding out results in very tough games. In 2010, Loew brought in a group of youngsters virtually unknown to fans who do not follow the Bundesliga to play alongside a few veterans. The team played some scintillating football and finished third at the World Cup.

There was an eerie similarity between Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010. Germany lost a group game both times—to Croatia in 2008 and Serbia in 2010—and made it to the latter stages only to lose to Spain. The 2010 team was weakened by injuries but was definitely much better than the 2008 side.

Loew couldn't understand why his team lost to Spain. He was as baffled as the Germans. That is exactly the reason why Loew's extendeding for two years instead of four is great. Germany might not even play Spain in the next tournament in which they feature. If Loew fails again in the latter stages of another major tournament—and once again to Spain—a replacement will be required.

He is a very good manager, though, and this team really belongs to him. Now, we will have to wait and see whether he can lead this team to a major trophy.

The next piece of news is the captaincy feud. Neither Philipp Lahm nor Michael Ballack wants to give up the captaincy. The question now is whether Ballack will even have a spot on the team following the maturation of Sami Khedira, the emergence of Toni Kroos as a defensive midfielder, and the return of Simon Rolfes from injury.

Uli Hoeness of Bayern's hierarchy has already mentioned that Ballack should step down from the national team while Bastian Schweinsteiger believes that Ballack is still the captain. Apparently Ballack left South Africa before Germany's game against Spain because of a feud with Lahm, according to the German tabloid Bild, which hurts the story's credibility. He did, however, leave Africa, as Germany confirmed, for medical reasons. Joachim Loew will announce his decision about the captaincy prior to the friendly against Denmark on August 11.

Bundesliga

It's July, and it's transfer time! The biggest transfer in the league has to be Heiko Westermann's move from Schalke to Hamburg . His move came about because of his preference of playing in central defence rather than as a wing back or defensive midfielder. Hamburg have also signed highly rated midfielder Gojko Kacar from Hertha Berlin. Marcus Berg, meanwhile, has been sent on loan to PSV in Holland.

Arne Friedrich, Cicero, and Jaroslav Drobny have all left Hertha Berlin. Drobny has joined Hamburg while Friedrich and Cicero have headed for Steve McLaren's Wolfsburg . Simon Kjaer has left Italy to join Wolfsburg from Palermo while Mario Mandzukic has also joined Die Wolfe from Dinamo Zagreb. Zvejdan Misimovic and Edin Dzeko will not be allowed to move this season.

Felix Magath has purchased Christoph Metzelder from Real Madrid and Erik Jendrisek from Kaiserslautern. Apparently, Raul is on his way to Schalke and will join up with the club in a few days if certain reports are to be believed. Lewis Holtby, one of Magath's favourite lads, has been sent on loan to Mainz to gain more experience. Kevin Kuranyi left the club in May for Dynamo Moscow.

Stuttgart have purchased the delightful Cristian Molinaro from Juventus while Martin Lanig has left the club for Hanover. Christian Gentner has joined the club from Wolfsburg while Martin Harnik has been purchased from Werder. Werder have added Marko Arnautovic following a loan spell at Inter Milan from FC Twente.

The Kroos brothers have moved on as well. Felix Kroos has joined Werder from Hansa Rostock while Toni Kroos has returned to Bayern following a loan spell at Leverkusen . Erwin Hoffer has joined Kaiserslautern from Napoli while Dennis Diekmaier has headed for Hamburg from Nuremberg. Michael Ballack has joined Leverkusen.

There are many transfer rumours linking Schweini and Sami Khedira to Real Madrid, Mesut Oezil to a host of English and Spanish clubs, Nelson Valdez to Hercules and Bayern's Jose Sosa to Italy. Miro Klose was contacted by two clubs from England but turned them both down in order to finish his contract at Bayern.

Bayern

And finally, we visit FC Hollwood. Louis Van Gaal has been looking for players to fill in the huge void in his squad due to the large number still on holiday and has thus called up the club's fitness trainer and team doctor!

He will probably not be staying on at Bayern for more than two years as he has his sights set on managing a national team at the World Cup in 2014 following his failure at the helm of the Dutch. He has criticized Otmar Hitzfeld's negative tactics against Spain in the World Cup as well as Franck Ribery due to his continuous problems.

As far as transfers are concerned, Jose Sosa seems set to leave, and despite Van Gaal warning him indirectly about another season on the bench, Anatoliy Tymoschuk has decided to stay on and fight for his place. Gregory Van der Wiel and Fabio Coentrao are two players Bayern are taking a look at even though the speculation about Van der Wiel has come to an end.

Miro Klose and Mario Gomez are two players who have to fight for their places, and van Gaal has reminded them both about it. Gomez is being linked with Real Madrid. The fight for spots will get very intense as Van Gaal intends to make Thomas Mueller and Toni Kroos battle for one spot.

Andreas Ottl who has come back following a loan spell at Nuremberg is another who might find playing time hard to come by. Martin Demichelis could see himself usurped by Holger Badstuber while Diego Contento will most probably cover the left wing.

Franck Ribery has thanked the club for standing by him. He has been accused of being involved with a minor in France. He brought the minor in Munich for his birthday and thus might get into trouble with the German authorities. If found guilty, he could be jailed up to three years. Bayern don't seem worried as they had extended his contract upto 2015 but things seem to be getting a little nervy at the moment.

To end it all, here is a copy of Bayern's preseason schedule .

LIGA Total Cup 2010:
July 31, 12:35 p.m. Eastern: FC Bayern Munich vs 1. FC Köln: Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen
August 1, 10:45 a.m. or 12:35 p.m. Eastern: FC Bayern Munich vs. Schalke 04/Hamburger SV: Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen

DFL Supercup:
August 7, 2010: Time: tbd: FC Bayern Munich vs. Schalke 04: impuls arena, Augsburg

Franz Beckenbauer Abschiedsspiel:
FC Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid (to take place “in August” at Allianz Arena, time and date tbd).

DFB-Pokal First Round:
August 13-August 16

Bundesliga Matchday 1:
August 20