RIO DE JANEIRO, July 12 — Germany has turned to science in a bid to end a 24-year wait for a fourth World Cup title.

The German football federation studied data on everything from climate trends to player fitness in seeking an advantage at the tournament, even sinking money into building a training camp in Brazil to suit its requirements.

“Germany is much more advanced in sports science” than Brazil, said Marcos de Morais Cafu, who captained the Brazilian team to its last title in 2002. “That’s not going to win them the World Cup on its own, but it helps.”

The German team, known as Die Mannschaft, faces Argentina at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium at 5pm local time tomorrow for the biggest prize in football.

The Germans, who trounced Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals, are the 13-10 favorite with UK bookmaker bet365 Group Ltd to beat Lionel Messi’s two-time champion Argentina, a 5-2 chance. A successful US$1 (RM3.82) bet on Germany would yield a US$1.30 (RM4.14) profit.

Germany’s preparation mimics the approach of David Brailsford, the general manager of cycling team Sky, who oversaw an approach known as “the aggregation of marginal gains” on the way to winning the past two Tour de France titles with Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.

It means “finding a 1 per cent margin for improvement in everything you do,” Brailsford said in a 2010 interview.

SAP program

The German football federation, whose sponsors include luxury carmaker Daimler AG and apparel maker Adidas AG, uses a computer program made by SAP AG that can instantly distil 7 million data points that three players can produce, according to Oliver Bierhoff, general manager of the national team. SAP is the biggest maker of business management software.

Like other teams, Germany is looking for “innovative ways” to gain a competitive advantage, Bierhoff said in a recent statement.

The federation has 40 sports science students helping it sift through data on each opponent, according to Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. Brazil’s federation employs as few as two staff to study player data, Cafu said in an interview in Rio de Janeiro.

Argentina’s goalkeeping coach, Juan Jose Romero, has a more old-fashioned approach. a folder crammed with paper with information on other teams’ penalty takers, according to Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella. Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero saved twice as Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-2 in a penalty shootout to reach the final.

Alpine training

Before the tournament, Germany had a 10-day preparation camp in a secluded village about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level in the Italian Alps. Training at altitude stimulates the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells that increase stamina.

Eight days before the World Cup began, Germany headed to a 60-room base near Porto Seguro, which the German federation commissioned real-estate developer Hirmer Immobilien GmbH & Co to build more than a year ago.

While most teams booked hotels in the cooler south of Brazil, Germany’s base in the more tropical north helped them cope with the humid conditions of their opening games. A European team has never won any of the six previous editions of the tournament in Latin America.

To be sure, Germany is hardly the only World Cup team tapping sports science. Using matchbox-sized GPS tracking devices, US team physician George Chiampas followed the fitness of players to lower the risk of injuries.

After playing extra time in their quarterfinal against Costa Rica in Salvador, Dutch players including Arjen Robben put on cooling vests to bring down their body temperature before winning a 4-3 penalty shootout.

Still, Germany’s planning is admired even in England, which counts the three-time champion as one of its biggest football rivals.

Gordon Taylor, chief executive officer of the Professional Footballers’ Association, which represents UK-based players, said that German clubs are also more efficient at developing younger players.

“We’re often on the wrong end of results against Germany but you have to admire them for the way they prepare,” Taylor said. “They really show football is a team game.” — Bloomberg