Going Underground, German national football team take the tube

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

Members of the German national soccer team sit in a tube train as they travel on the London underground transport system to Wembley Park station November 18, 2013. REUTERS Photo

Joachim Loew's Germany squad decided to beat the London traffic by taking the Underground for their final training session ahead of Tuesday's friendly against England.
 
The German Football federation (DFB) revealed Loew's squad opted not to take the team bus and joined the 315,000, who use the London Underground every hour, to travel from their city centre hotel to Wembley Stadium in north London by tube.
 
The DFB insist the journey was not a PR stunt, but was simply a novelty way to ensure the Germans, who are one of the favourites for the 2014 World Cup, arrived for Monday's training session on time.
 
The entire Germany squad took 42 minutes to travel from Embankment, near the team hotel, to Wembley Park via Baker Street, receiving a few curious looks from fellow Tube passengers, before a short walk to the stadium down the famous Wembley walkway.
 
As part of The Football Association's 150th anniversary celebrations, all Underground stations also carry the name of a famous footballer with Embankment also known as "Des Walker", after the England defender, and Wembley Park is "Alf Ramsey" after the England 1966 World Cup-winning manager.