Germany
and Portugal will meet this Saturday, June 9th in L'viv at L'viv Arena. The last these two nations met in the
European Championship in group stages, the Portuguese came out on top while
Germany finished bottom.
As
the days wind down, Portugal faces a challenge, as Nani may not be fully fit to
feature Saturday's match. His pace on
pitch proves to be an important factor for Portugal's front line, which
typically falls short in instincts when in front of goal. Some media outlets have reported that the
Manchester United man will definitely play, but all signs point to a decision
day of.
As
for Germany, the team appears ready for the match, the players being more aware
of the problems they could encounter against Portugal. Midfielder Sami Khedira believes that Germany
has the drive and stated, "We need to play tight defense [against
Portugal], take away [their] space so [they] can lose [their] desire to
play."
In
the last three meetings between the two nations, the Germans have a 2-1
advantage.
The
first they met was back in 2000 during Group Stages of the Euro, where Portugal
soundly defeated Germany. Sérgio
Conceição bagged a hattrick, ending Germany's lackluster campaign.
Their
second meeting was in 2006 during the World Cup, where Germany walked away with
a 3-1 victory. Bastian Schweinsteiger
steamrolled the Portuguese, his side finishing third that year, and an own goal
from Petit and a last minute consolation goal from Nuno Gomes was not enough
for Portugal this time around.
Their
most recent meeting took place in 2008 during the Euro Quarterfinals, which
ended with a 3-2 victory for Germany, Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose heralding
Portugal's demise in a four-minute span.
Portugal's Gomes made it 1-2 just before halftime, but Michael Ballack's
third goal at the 61' minute mark proved dashed their [Portugal's] Eurocopa
dreams.
Portuguese
head coach Paulo Bento stated that in order to beat Germany, his players need
courage and organization. He said the following in an interview to UEFA:
"For us to beat Germany we need to be organized. We need to have courage because if we only think about defending then we certainly are not going to get a positive result. We need to always attack in an organized fashion. Above all, we need to be strong and aggressive, especially if we lose the ball."
Portugal
heads into Euro 2012 with two negative results in their final two preparation
matches. A poor performance against
Macedonia ended in a scoreless draw, which raised a lot of questions from the
Portuguese fans and media.
In
their final prep match, Turkey stole the show with a 3-1 victory at the Estadio
da Luz. The defeat could not be
described as anything but bittersweet, as Portugal lost on home turf. They [the Portuguese] may have dominated the
game for periods of time, but their lack of a true striker and iffy defending cost
them once again.
Portugal
has continuously shown consistency when it comes to the "Game Plan"
no matter the opponent – defend then Cristiano Ronaldo counterattack. While Cristiano has incredible pace on and
off the ball, the team's dependence of him has become somewhat of a
problem. Most teams know that
frustrating the forward early on in the match will put a wrench in Portugal's
clockwork. Without an inspired CR7 on
pitch, it becomes difficult for Portugal to create offense, as majority of the
offense goes through him.
Now
for the Germans. Germany was able to end
prep on a positive note – a 2-0 victory over Israel – but the 5-3 loss to
Switzerland certainly keeps everything in perspective. With Schweinsteiger out due to injury and the
back line looking extremely vulnerable, the Swiss made Swiss cheese out of
their opponents, poking holes up and down Germany's line.
Head
coach Joachim Low has a handful of talented players at his disposal,
particularly in the midfield. Schweinsteiger
will be in charge of running things midfield with the help of Mesut Özil, a
lethal combo indeed.
On
paper, Germany looks likely to win this Saturday. However the world of football, the difference
is made on pitch, not on paper. With that said, it may not be easy for
Portugal to claim a victory, but a win is very possible.
written by Gail Hidalgo
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