Euro 2012: Why American Fans Should Support Germany

I'm an American, and it pains me to say this.

It's true, though: Ask an average American soccer fan which non-American teams he supports, and you'll get two answers more than two-thirds of the time.

Manchester United and England.

The first one is a topic for another day. But after Friday's Euro 2012 draw, it's time to start thinking about the second one, and time to start choosing sides.

Most American fans, like I said, will side with England. And that's a natural choice. The United Kingdom is the United States' closest ally. We speak the same language. All their games come on TV here.

But I'm here to say there's another way.

Supporting Germany next summer might not have occurred to you as a natural choice. But if you decide to go a new way, you might find it to be one of the most rewarding experiences of your football-watching career.

Here are five reasons why.

Americans Like Winners

And the Germans are winners.

Take it from an Englishman, Gary Lineker, who famously said: “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans win.”

In America, we have a bunch of teams like that in every sport—the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Lakers and any other dynasty the average American likes to support. Sure, some people love to hate them, but as a whole, America loves winners.

Germany has won three European titles and three World Cups. Die Mannschaft's default finish at major tournaments is the semifinals.

England? They have a history of penalty pain. And apart from their triumph on home soil in the 1966 World Cup, they have a long history of underachievement.

If you're an American fan and you like winners, there are only a few natural choices in Europe. But even if you like underdogs in your domestic sports, why add more heartbreak from across the pond?

Germany Can Dethrone Spain

The Germans are winners, but we could also say that about a few more countries that'll be involved in Euro 2012.

The most obvious, of course, is Spain, the reigning European and world champions.

But do we really want to see yet another championship for Spain? Do we really want to see them dominate world soccer for another two years?

Well, either you do or you don't. I don't, and I think there's only one team in Europe that can dethrone them.

I'll give you a hint: It's not England (recent results aside).

Germany and Spain met in the Euro 2008 final, and Spain carved out a 1-0 win. Four years later, though, Germany has an exciting squad that mixes youth and experience.

Spain will still be formidable, but Germany will have the players, tactics, coaching and mindset to knock them off.

John Terry Is Still England's Captain

Who wants to support that guy?

Sure, it’s admirable that England manager Fabio Capello supports Terry and says he's innocent until proven guilty. But in reality, the England national team is not the judicial system of the United States. In reality, innocence has nothing to do with it.

Terry is guilty of being a distraction to his team, and, what's more, he’s been guilty of other serious offenses against his teammates.

It’s time to move on. It's time to strip Terry of the captaincy. But Capello won’t make the move.

There’s been a lot of talk about how Capello is shaking things up, but his refusal to defrock Terry serves as the strongest indication that the England national team is still the old-boys' club it's always been.

We're supposed to support that? I'll pass.

Germany Is Young and Exciting

While England still has the old-boys’ club, Germany has young, exciting, über-talented players.

And that's because the higher-ups decided to shake things up about a decade ago.

After the failure of Euro 2000 (Die Mannschaft finished bottom of Group A, which also included Romania, Portugal and England), the German national team reinvented itself from the bottom up. The process started with youth development, and the changes extended all the way up to the training methods and tactics of the senior national team.

Those players who were in the youth system at the turn of the century are now contributing members of the full national team as teens and young 20-somethings.

And these players don’t use the same old, mechanically efficient German tactics, either. I mean, did you see them at the World Cup? They play fast. They attack. They flow up and down the field as a single unit.

Want a star? Pick a name.

Thomas Müller (now 22) was the breakout young star of the World Cup, but there’s other young talent like Real Madrid's Mesut Özil (23) and Sami Khedira (24), and Borussia Dortmund's Mario Götze (19) and Mats Hummels (22).

Even the guys who form the backbone of the squad—central midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger (27), defender and captain Phillipp Lahm (28), central defender Per Mertesacker (27) and forward Lukas Podolski (26)—are relatively young.

So here's what you get with Germany:

You get a team that's one part youth, one part experience. You get a team that's always fun to watch. You get a team that plays a fast, exciting style. You get a team that wins, a lot. You get a team that's distinctly German but also multicultural (thanks to players like Özil, Khedira, Mario Gomez, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Dennis Aogo).

And, unlike England, you get a team that's not dependent on a single player.

History Is History

It might be hard for a certain generation of Americans to support Germany in anything. We did fight two wars against them in the 20th century.

But the current players are a couple generations removed from that, and so are most of today's fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

What's more, the German players grew up in a different Germany—a progressive, forward-thinking Germany that teaches its children English at a young age and gives them the tools to compete on the world stage.

If that sounds a lot like their national team, that’s probably no coincidence. Germany is among the most progressive nations in Europe, and their national team mirrors that.

Besides, we also fought a couple wars against England, remember? Americans don't hate David Beckham just because the British burned down the White House in 1814, do they?

No. It's time to move on.

Besides, these days, German culture is all about fun. It’s basically beer, sausage, music, dancing, pretzels, beer, sausage, beer and women in beer-maid outfits.

Okay, so that might be a bit of a caricature, but at major tournaments, that’s how the fans really act.

Who wouldn’t like all that?