EURO 2008 Preview: Germany has high expectations
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Germany coach Joachim Loew wasn't thrilled after a 2-2 tie with Belarus on May 27, but he wasn't too concerned either.
Germany, one of the favorites to win Euro 2008, blew a two-goal lead in the tie against Belarus - which is ranked 60th in the world by FIFA.
Loew was upset, but the game capped a hard week of training and he was sure the team would be ready for its Euro finals opener against Poland on June 8.
"In twelve days, all the players will be in much better form," he said. "I can promise you that."
Germany followed the tie with a 2-1 win over 31st-ranked Serbia on May 31. What was impressive, though, was that Germany overcame an early deficit with a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes.
Sure, the opposition gets a lot tougher than Serbia over the next month but the rally proved just how dangerous Germany could be in the finals.
Germany, ranked fifth in the world, closely resembles its 2006 World Cup third- place team. Fifteen players - including captain Michael Ballack - are back from that group.
Although Germany was strong in the last World Cup and was second in 2002, it's currently in a long drought - for Germany at least - without a major title. The last time Germany won a major crown was the Euro finals in 1996.
And in the last two Euro finals, Germany hasn't been a factor. The Germans are winless in their last six games in the finals dating back to their 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in the '96 championship - its record third Euro title.
Ballack, who scored the game winner against Serbia, could be the difference for Germany. He returned from potential career-ending ankle surgery to lead Chelsea to the Champions League final and is in top form.
With 36 goals in 81 games for Germany, the versatile midfielder has established himself as one of the country's all-time greats.
"I am really impatient for the tournament to begin," Ballack said.
Ballack will anchor the team from a free-roaming center midfield position that will allow him to defend and attack. Bastian Schweinsteiger, who is just 23 but has a surprising 51 national team appearances, has been on the left side for a few years and injury-plagued Torsten Frings seems to have regained fitness and will feature in a defensive midfield role.
The only question in midfield is who will replace veteran Bernd Schneider, who also has 81 appearances but is out with an injury, on the right. Clemens Fritz, a defender who has played right midfield on occasion, will likely be the choice but has a tough job replacing Schneider.
Germany also has questions on offense, but only because it features so many top strikers. Veteran Miroslav Klose, who still had 10 goals and eight assists with Bayern Munich during a down year, is not a sure thing to start. Lukas Podolski, who has started alongside Klose, Mario Gomez, Kevin Kuranyi and Oliver Neuville are the other options.
Gomez was in top form for Stuttgart this season, scoring 28 goals in 32 matches and he has two goals in his last three appearances for Germany. Whether he gets a starting role could play a major factor in the team's success.
Germany has the talent to be the best defensive clubs in the tournament with Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder in the middle, and Philipp Lahm and either Marcell Jansen, who is likely to start, or Heiko Westermann on the outside.
Jens Lehmann will be in goal and the team is confident with the 38-year-old who lost his starting role with Arsenal during the club season.
"Jens is so experienced. He knows exactly what is expected of him," Frings said. "He is the perfect goalkeeper for this tournament."
In addition to Poland, co-hosts Austria and Croatia are also in Group B with the Germans. The top two teams from the group reach the quarterfinals.
OUTLOOK
Germany is experienced at every position on the field and has a number of young players who performed well during the 2006 World Cup. Germany is in the easiest group - which almost guarantees a berth in the quarterfinals for the first time since '96 - and has enough talent to win its fourth Euro title
These guys know the score for Euro 2008
Here are 10 players likely to get the winning goal in European Championship.
Someone will score the goal.
It could be any one of the 368 players taking part in the 13th European Championship, but it is obviously more likely to be a striker than a defender.
But which one?
In Switzerland on Saturday and in Austria on Sunday, the Euro 2008 tournament will set off on its gallop to the finish line at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna on June 29.
There, an as-yet-unknown player will fire, slide, deflect, nudge, head, or in some other fashion propel the ball across the line that will earn his country the championship.
There are dozens of top-rate forwards in the 31-game event, but odds are that the tournament-winning goal will be scored by one of the 10 listed below.
These are the premier strikers of Euro 2008, the goal scorers who will be most closely watched in the coming weeks. Some will succeed, some will fail, some might not even play, but one will emerge supreme.
But which one?
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) -- Europe's No. 1 goal scorer, winner of the Golden Shoe in 2008, and soon to become the world's most expensive player if a move from Manchester United to Real Madrid transpires, Ronaldo could have a superb Euro 2008 or might be so distracted by transfer talk that he fails to deliver. Real Madrid reportedly is dangling an astonishing salary of $586,000 a week, after tax, in front of the 23-year-old. Meanwhile, Portugal Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Friday forbade his team from even mentioning the subject.
2. Luca Toni (Italy) -- After being snapped up for what now seems a bargain $17 million from Fiorentina one year ago, the lanky Toni enjoyed a phenomenal first season with Bayern Munich. He was the top scorer in the Bundesliga and helped propel Bayern to a trio of titles: the German league, the German Cup and the German League Cup. His season haul of 39 goals was only two fewer than Ronaldo's 41. On average, he has scored once in every two games for Italy.
3. Miroslav Klose (Germany) -- The leading goal scorer from the 2006 World Cup is a tournament player. He netted five in the 2002 World Cup and five more in 2006 and, even though he turns 30 on Monday, he remains one of the sport's most deadly finishers. Toni has stolen the luster from him at Bayern Munich, but he is still Germany's top choice up front. Coach Joachim Low said this week that the Polish-born Klose is "back to his old dynamic self" and that he had "never seen him looking so fit, so agile and so strong."
4. Thierry Henry (France) -- This is probably the last hurrah for Henry on the global stage. He has a national-record 44 goals in 100 games for France and has won a World Cup (1998) and a European Championship (2000) but has said he might retire from international competition after Euro 2008. If so, chances are he'd like to extend his goal record to 50, if possible. If he does, France will go far, but Henry's past season at Barcelona was a dud. He was played out of position and lost confidence. Now, he needs to recapture his form in a hurry.
5. Jan Koller (Czech Republic) -- The bald giant of a man will be remembered none too fondly by U.S. fans. It was Koller who scored against the Americans a mere five minutes into the 2006 World Cup. He has found the back of the net 54 times in 86 games for the national team, an all-time Czech record, but at 35 there are questions about just how much he will have left at this level.
6. Ruud Van Nistlerooy (Netherlands) -- The Real Madrid and former Manchester United striker has been one of Europe's most feared strikers for several years. He has been the league-leading scorer in Holland, England and Spain and twice in the European Champions League. His experience with the Dutch national team has been less effective, however. Now, Coach Marco Van Basten is using him as a lone striker, supported by three attacking players, and the four-pronged offense could be the key for the Netherlands.
7. Alessandro Del Piero (Italy) -- No one made more noise in Serie A during the 2007-2008 Italian season than veteran Del Piero, who, at 33, scored more than 20 goals for Juventus, his best output in a decade. There was Italy-wide clamor for him to be on the Euro 2008 roster and Coach Roberto Donadoni eventually agreed. Whether Donadoni, with Toni at his disposal, will allow Del Piero to add to the 27 goals he has scored for the Azzurri remains to be seen, but given the 2006 World Cup winner's superb form, it is likely.
8. Karim Benzema (France) -- If Henry struggles and if French Coach Raymond Domenech has the nerve, then 20-year-old Benzema stands a good chance of being the revelation of Euro 2008. Benzema has been likened to former French great Zinedine Zidane, but in at least one aspect he is superior. He scores more goals than Zidane. In the season just ended, he helped Olympique Lyon win its seventh consecutive French league championship, and was chosen French player of the year.
9. Fernando Torres (Spain) -- Coach Luis Aragones' decision to exclude Spain's all-time leading goal scorer, Raul, from his roster, raised many eyebrows. The only way the move will not come back to haunt him is if Torres or teammate David Villa come through. Torres went neck-and-neck with Ronaldo during the English Premier League season and finished with 33 goals. An atypical striker in the sense that he does not look in the least bit imposing, Torres, 24, nonetheless has the goal scorer's instinct and his finishing is impeccable. Aragones hopes that will prove true in Euro 2008.
10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) -- Strange as it may seem to include a player who has not scored a goal for his country since 2005, Ibrahimovic's play for Italian champion Inter Milan demands his inclusion here. To spur the 26-year-old to greater heights, Swedish Coach Lars Lagerback recalled veteran Henrik Larsson, 36, to his squad. Ibrahimovic was delighted. "Henrik and I have a special relationship and we have played a lot together," he said. "He helps me a lot and he can help me during this championship. I respect all the strikers in our team, but Henrik is who I play best with."
Euro Quote of the Day -- "You have to feed the cow well to be able to get the milk," said Theo Zwanziger, president of the German soccer federation, responding to media reports that the team's swank hotel in Switzerland would cost the federation $2.47 million.
Euro Statistic of the Day -- The tournament will generate a record $2-billion in income, according to David Taylor, general secretary of UEFA, soccer's European governing body.
Euro Quick Update -- Poland has lost backup goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak and winger Jakub Blaszczykowski to spine and hamstring injuries, respectively. Both will be replaced on the Polish roster. Italy defender Christian Panucci left training early Friday after straining a tendon in his right knee.
Euro Upcoming Games -- Saturday sees Switzerland play the Czech Republic in Basel and Portugal play Turkey in Geneva. On Sunday, Austria opens against Croatia in Vienna and Germany plays Poland in Klagenfurt.
latimes.com