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"Whoever we play, we want to be champions."

German football paid tribute to Lukas Podolski on Sunday after the opening game on Sunday. Well before kick-off, fans were lining up to wish him the best for Thursday's game.

The match against Croatia marks another milestone in the 23-year old's career: born in Poland, Podolski is playing his 50th match in a German national team shirt.

Winning is what matters

"I'm not thinking about that. What matters is that we play well and win. It would be great, of course, if it works out after the match with us securing a place in the quarter final stage." Podolski scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Poland. Team coach Joachim Löw feels the same.

"Poldi" to play in mid-field again

"Our big goal now is to win EURO 2008. Personal achievements are not as important as that. Even so, it's my big ambition to score a lot more goals for Germany." Podolsi will line up in mid-field on the left against Croatia who beat Austria 1-0 in their opening match.

German coach Löw says: "Lukas performed very well. He's incredibly dangerous in front of goal." Löw kept his final selection under wraps until after Wednesday evening's final training session in Klagenfurt.

Possible changes in the line-up

All that Löw would say was that there could possibly be one or two tactical changes from the Poland game. But it seems unlikely, with the 3-times European champions making a strong start in the quest for a 4th title.

Even reserve Arne Friedrich, highly rpaised by Löw throughout the week doubts there'll be room for him. "I'm in good form, but I don't think I'll be playing. The coach did everything right against Poland, so he's got no reason to change anything."
Steigerung nötig

Captain Michael Ballack, too, sees no need to alter the starting line-up, but wants even better performances from himself and the team in the second game. "Croatia are aiming high and so are we. We want to get to the finals, so we will have to improve further."

Podolski shares that dream. His double against Poland was his fifth for Germany and opens the prospect of winning the title of top goal-scorer. "We're going to give our all to win the championship this time. I'm still a bit sad that our big dream didn't come true at the World Championship in 2006.

The whole team shares Prince Poldi's vision. Fellow midfielder Clemens Fritz says only reaching the semi-finals, as they did in 2006, would be a set-back.

One step at a time

Jogi Löw isn't looking that far ahead. He warns: "Let's take one step at a time. Croatia are a sophisticated team with very good individual players who know how to take the pace out of a game."

Löw points to their performance in winning twice against England during the qualifiers. The German team watched videos of the Croatians' 2-0 home win over England and their 3-2 victory at Wembley, along with extracts from their 1-0 defeat of Austria.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff reminded the team that Germany beat the Croatians 2-1 at EURO 1996 on their way to their third EURO championship. But their was no mention of their 3-0 quarter final loss to Croatia in the 1998 World Cup.

Playing our own game

"We want to stick to playing our own game against Croatia and wrap things up with a hat-trick of goals. All the players are really up for this game," says assistant coach Hansi Flick. Like the team, he's aware of the mood in Germany: "We're not going to let that euphoria dazzle us to the reality. So far, we've only won one game."

The expected line-up against Croatia

1 Lehmann - 16 Lahm, 17 Mertesacker, 21 Metzelder, 2 Jansen - 4 Fritz, 8 Frings, 13 Ballack, 20 Podolski - 11 Klose, 9 Gomez

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