Germany B (or Germany A2) is a secondary team of the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (''Deuts ...

, used to try out and develop players for potential inclusion in the first team. The team, which has not been active since 2006, can play against other nations' B-teams, or against full national teams, but its matches are not considered full internationals. The team was known as Team 2006, as it was the development team for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, which was hosted in Germany.

Team 2006

In 2000, Germany won the contest to host the 2006 World Cup. After the team was knocked out in the first round of

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge o ...

decided to form Team 2006, a development team for young players, with the hope of producing a squad that could succeed at the 2006 tournament. The team played ten fixtures between 2002 and 2005, with four wins, four draws and two defeats. Ultimately, only four players from Team 2006 were part of the World Cup Squad –

Tim Borowski Tim Borowski (born 2 May 1980) is a German football assistant manager of Werder Bremen and a former professional midfielder. Borowski spent 11 years of his 12-year professional career with Werder Bremen, amassing Bundesliga totals of 236 games ...

Arne Friedrich Arne Friedrich (born 29 May 1979) is a German football executive and former player who played as a defender. He formerly was the sporting director of Hertha BSC. He played 82 times for the Germany national team. Friedrich was a very versatil ...

Mike Hanke Mike Hanke (; born 5 November 1983) is a German former professional footballer who played the position of forward. He has been described as a player who "gives it his all in attack and is always dangerous in the opponent's penalty area." He ear ...

and

Timo Hildebrand Timo Hildebrand (born 5 April 1979) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Hildebrand holds a Bundesliga record for keeping a clean sheet for the most consecutive minutes (884 minutes), which he set during the 2 ...

. However,

Manuel Friedrich Manuel Friedrich (born 13 September 1979) is a German former professional footballer who played as a central defender. A Mainz 05 youth product, he amassed Bundesliga totals of 258 games and 16 goals over the course of 12 seasons, representin ...

, Alexander Madlung,

Clemens Fritz Clemens Fritz (born 7 December 1980) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back and as a defensive midfielder. He is mostly known for his 11-year spell at Werder Bremen. Having begun his career at Rot-Weiß Erfurt a ...

Stefan Kießling Stefan Kießling (born 25 January 1984) is a German former footballer who played as a striker for Bayer Leverkusen and 1. FC Nürnberg. Born in Lichtenfels, West Germany, Kießling began playing football at a young age in the youth setup at 1 ...

Simon Rolfes Simon Rolfes (born 21 January 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Early career Rolfes started his career at Werder Bremen after progressing through their academy. During the 2000� ...

Robert Enke Robert Enke (24 August 1977 – 10 November 2009) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Mönchengladbach, Benfica, and Barcelona, but made the majority of his appearances for Bundesliga side Hannover 96 ...

Patrick Helmes Patrick Helmes (born 1 March 1984) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He most recently worked as the manager of Alemannia Aachen. Helmes retired from professional football at the age of 31. Club career Early c ...

Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented the Germany national team over a period of 11 years between 2007 and 2018. Gómez began his professional career with ...

and Roman Weidenfeller went on to play full internationals, as did

Daniel Bierofka Daniel Bierofka (; born 7 February 1979) is a German football coach and a former player. A former left winger, his playing career had been plagued by injuries which limited his chances of playing more matches for Germany national squad and force ...

Marco Engelhardt Marco Engelhardt (born 2 December 1980) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Engelhardt previously played for Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Nürnberg and 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the German top-flig ...

, Fabian Ernst,

Frank Fahrenhorst Frank Fahrenhorst (born 24 September 1977) is a German former professional footballer, who played as a defender and is currently manager of VfB Stuttgart II. Club career Born in Kamen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Fahrenhorst turned professional w ...

Ingo Hertzsch Ingo Hertzsch (born 22 July 1977) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Hertzsch was born in Meerane. He appeared in more than 225 Bundesliga matches. International career Hertzsch played for the ...

Tobias Rau Tobias Rau (born 31 December 1981) is a German former professional footballer who played as a left back. In a career blighted by injuries, he retired from professional play at only 27. Club career Wolfsburg Rau was born in Braunschweig, Lower S ...

Andreas Hinkel Andreas Hinkel (born 26 March 1982) is a German football coach and a former player. Hinkel played as a right-back and earned 21 caps for the Germany national team. He was known for his attacking play on the flanks and defensive solidity. He sta ...

and Kevin Kurányi, who had already been capped before their Team 2006 debuts. The team's coaches were

Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...

(From 22 March 1999–26 March 2002),

Uli Stielike Ulrich "Uli" Stielike (born 15 November 1954) is a German former footballer and manager. Usually a central midfielder or sweeper, Stielike was well known for his stamina and footballing intelligence.Radnedge, Keir. (2004). The Complete Encyclope ...

(26 March 2002–2003), and

Erich Rutemöller Erich Rutemöller (born 8 February 1945) is a German retired football manager and player. Coaching career Rutemöller has headed 1. FC Köln, Hansa Rostock and Bonner SC during his coaching career. He was an assistant coach for the Germany nati ...

(2003–2005).

Former players

:''See :Germany B international footballers''

References

{{Football in Germany B European national B association football teams