The title of dark horse of this World Cup undoubtedly belongs to Germany. Everyone was talking about Spain, Italy or Argentina as possible contenders, and no one gave a second thought to a team that, although strong, does not have the stars or the charisma that tend to attract the attention of the football world. Adding insult to injury, literally, a Ballack–less German team did indeed look less than impressive on paper and without many chances of success.

A little bump in the group stages against Serbia served to confirm all the skeptics’ opinions that Germany were not good enough to go all the way. Fast forward two weeks and Germany have outplayed small teams Australia and Ghana, and downright humiliated world-powerhouses England and Argentina. And as Germany gets ready to try and beat European champions Spain in the second World Cup semifinal tonight, the world has been left admiring the Germans’ impressive path to success.

© istockphoto.com/wrangel

How could a team with no Rooney, Ronaldo or Messi possibly have any chance to make it to the semifinal, let alone score four goals per match a staggering three times in the tournament? Perhaps the names Müller, Schweinsteiger and Friedrich are not as easily recognised as they don’t belong to global football stars, but these players, and the whole of the German team, have succeeded where other teams with charismatic superstars have not.

One of the German strengths is that they are, indeed, a team. Speaking right after their thrashing of Argentina, captain Philipp Lahm summarised their victory in one accurate phrase: ‘Better teams beat better players’. While Argentina boasts amazing footballers such as Tévez and Messi, who is undoubtedly the best player in the world, Germany’s players are simply good. Yet they complement each other perfectly and play for German glory, not their own. Coach Löw has intelligently managed to find good players and put them in their preferred position in order to develop an efficient goal-making machine that looks the most convincing of the World Cup so far.

Indeed, the German team is very German in their approach. Core German cultural values are discipline, efficiency, hard work and planning. In Germany, things tend to be done properly and on time while expectations are always high. These are well-known traits of German culture, yet expats who are living and working in Germany may still find it hard to adapt to these values. Doing business in Germany is undoubtedly profitable as the country is well known for their very high standards, efficiency and discipline. To completely understand how these values impact business in Germany and take full advantage of them, anyone building relationships or communicating regularly with German counterparts should undergo a cross cultural awareness training course.

Communicaid offers intensive cross cultural awareness training and language training that will give you the competitive edge you need to harness the famous German values and qualities of efficiency, planning and common sense.

The German football team has definitely been the most entertaining and exciting to watch in this World Cup full of unfulfilled promises and flopping superstars. Now we must wait until the game tonight to see how Germany’s efficiency fares against the Spanish team who has also performed well this World Cup.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010