Euro 2008 Preview: Croatia - Germany

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Lukas Podolski - Germany

The second round of matches in Group B gets underway with Croatia and Germany clashing in Klagenfurt.  Both teams won their opening games, so the winner of this one will have gone a long way to clinching their place in the knock-out stage.

Croats Confident

Croatia got their Euro 2008 campaign off to a winning start against hosts Austria thanks to an early penalty from Luka Modric.  They will want to continue that good start on Thursday as they face up to one of the tournament favourites Germany.

They are still regarded as one of the dark horses for the tournament and a positive result against the Germans will act as a huge confidence boost to Slaven Bilic’s men.

The Croats are not short on confidence and know that they can mix it with the big boys as their win at Wembley against England during qualification proves. 

Striker Mladen Petric outlined the spirit in the side:  "We're confident in ourselves, we know we're strong enough, and we have the quality to beat any team" he said.

Germany took the third place in 2006 World Cup as the host, while Croatia ended up with the same place in 1998 World Cup, during which Croatia beat Germany 3-0.

"We would love to be as successful as they were in 1998" Petric explained.

However, Germany has won five out of seven games against Croatia so far.  "The Germans are always favourites - and not only in the group.  It could be possible that our last game against Poland will decide who's going to the quarter-finals, but I hope we can secure our passage before that" the Dortmund striker added.

Germany beat the Croatians 2-1 in the last eight on their way to winning Euro 96 in England but suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat by them in the World Cup quarter-finals two years later.

Germans Hungry

Germany secured their first victory at a European Championships since 1996 (the year they last won the tournament) against Poland in their Group B opener with Lukas Podolski the two-goal hero.

Joachim Löw has a full strength squad at his disposal, although he will be looking for a better and more accomplished display from centre back Christophe Metzelder.

German team manager Oliver Bierhoff remains upbeat over Germany's prospects.  "We are so eager on taking the title that we are hungrier than in 1996" he said.

At the European football championship in 1996, Bierhoff, then the main striker of in the German team, scored the first golden goal in the world's football history to help Germany seal the top title.

"Our team have already found its own style.  Maybe it is difficult for me to compare Germany with other squads, but just like 12 years ago, we are a top-level team" he added.

He was of course optimistic over Germany's clash with Croatia.  "We know Croatia are a strong rival, the match will be tough, but we will do our best to crush them to win" Bierhoff said.

Croatia however are by no means a minnow for Germany.  The team coached by former Bundesliga player Slaven Bilic eliminated England during the qualifying round, and many experts see them as the dark horse in the 2008 tournament.

"Croatia are great tacticians while they also have great individuals who can beat you one-on-one.  They know how to control the pace of a game" said German coach Löw.

FORM GUIDE

Croatia

21/11/07  England 2 Croatia 3  (Euro Qualifier)

06/02/08  Croatia 0 Holland 3 (Friendly)

26/03/08  Scotland 1 Croatia 1 (Friendly)

24/05/08  Croatia 1 Moldova 0 (Friendly)

31/05/08  Hungary 1 Croatia 1 (Friendly)

08/06/08  Austria 0 Croatia 1 (Euro 2008)

Germany

27/11/07  Germany 0 Wales 0  (Euro Qualifier)

06/02/08  Austria 0 Germany 3  (Friendly)

26/03/08  Switzerland 0 Germany 4 (Friendly)

27/05/08  Germany 2 Belarus 2  (Friendly)

31/05/08  Germany 2 Serbia 1 (Friendly)

08/06/08 Germany 2 Poland (Euro 2008)  

TEAM NEWS

Croatia

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic remains confident midfielder Luka Modric will recover from an ankle injury to boost their hopes of a place in the last eight.  Otherwise he is likely to stick with the line-up that overcame Austria.

Predicted Line-Up: Pletikosa, Simunic, R. Kovac, Corluka, N. Kovac, Srna, Modric, Pranjic, Kranjcar, Olic, Petric

Germany

As both striker Gomez and midfielder Schweinsteiger performed well in the first match, it is widely believed that Jogi Löw will make a minor change to send both to the pitch, while putting speedy Podolski backward as a winger to create more scoring chances for team-mates.  Clemens Fritz would drop to the bench

Predicted Line-Up: Lehmann, Lahm, Metzelder. Mertesacker, Jansen, Frings, Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Gomez, Klose

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Croatia-Mladen Petric

The German defence will know all about the danger posed by Borussia Dortmund striker Mladen Petric after the Croat hit 13 goals in his debut season in the Bundesliga.  Slaven Bilic will be looking to him for the goals after the loss of Eduardo to injury.

Germany- Mario Gomez

The best German striker in the Bundesliga last season was undoubtedly Stuttgart’s Mario and he looks to have cemented his place in the forward line alongside Miroslav Klose.  The time for him now is to show just what he can do on the highest stage.  Lukas Podolski was the hero against Poland, but it could just be time for Gomez to grab the limelight.

PREDICTION

This should be a very close game with neither team wanting to give away the advantage they gained from winning their opening game.  A draw wouldn’t be the end of the world for either team

Croatia 1-1 Germany

Mathew Burt