B3: Austria 0 - 1 Germany - 16/06/08

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Euro 2008, Group B
Austria v Germany

Stadium: Ernst Happel, Vienna
Kick-off: Monday, 16 June 2008, 20.45h

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The match is much more important now, and also much tougher, than it looked 24 hours ago.

Croatia 6 pts
Germany 3 pts
Austria 1
Poland 1

If Poland looses to Croatia (both matches are played at the same time), than a draw would be enough to go through.

But, that's not the way to look at things. We must get a win at all costs.

[Vargas_4]

We can still obtain 1st spot if we're lucky.

Right not it is...

Croatia 6 pts +2
Germany 3 pts +1
...

If we win by more than 2 goals and Croatia somehow loses to Poland, we get the 1st spot.

If we're that lucky, of course.

[Stephan]

Man, I'm still pissed off from that Croatia game.
But let's put this lost behind us and focus on Austria.
Let's hope will be in form for the next game.

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Injured Jansen set to miss out

Marcell Jansen looks set to miss Germany's final Group B clash against Austria after suffering a shoulder injury in the 2-1 defeat to Croatia.

However, Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm should be able to play in Monday's encounter after recovering from minor knocks.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff confirmed: "There will be no problem with Podolski or Lahm, but it doesn't look so good for Jansen." Torsten Frings is looking forward to the game in Vienna, with Germany needing a draw against Austria to reach the quarter-finals.

The midfielder said: "It's going to be a great game. We'll be playing in front of 50,000 fans on a major stage against the hosts. What could be better? It will give us an edge.

"It's our fault this match has taken on the character of a final, but we know we're good enough to beat Austria. If we're tense you could call it a positive form of anticipation.

"This is a much better team than the one that went out in the first phase four years ago in Portugal.

"We've played with this system for four years now and we can't let all the progress we've made hang on one match against Austria. We're not going to change the way we play now."

Germany will also be without the suspended Bastian Schweinsteiger who was sent off against Croatia.

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Jansen's injury doesn't bother me much. He will not start against Austria, even if he's full fit. It's bad news that he is injured though, and I hope that he shakes it off soon.

Very happy to read that Podolski and Lahm will be playing. Two very important players, and I think it's fair to say - the most important players thus far.

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The expected Germany line-up, according to 'Sport-Bild':

Lehmann - Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm - Fritz, Frings, Ballack, Podolski - Gomez, Klose

Only one fuckin' change from last match. And that is Friedrich instead of Jansen. Friedrich on the right, Lahm on the left.

If Schweini was not suspended, he would have played on the left, and Podolski would have started as a striker instead of useless Gomez.

I feel we should use Trochowski and/or Hitzlsperger aswell.

I hope Löw has realised his mistake by not calling Marin. He would have been useful, the team clearly lacks creativity.

And I hope the defense have ironed their errors. I only trust Lahm and Mertesacker, both have been fantastic. Mertesacker has yet to commit a foul in the Euro.

Frings should help the defence even more, and Ballack should really step up his game and be more influential.

Auf gehts Deutschland!

[Oliver_Kahn]

Mertesacker has been far from fantastic, he was to blame on the first goal as well. A CB has to attack the ball in the area, he can't just jump and then dock. It's 50/50 between him and Jansen on the first goal.

It's quite clear that there's a lack of communication between Merte and Metz, perhaps give Friedrich a go at CB, because Westermann is shit.

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Germany v Poland, Merte's stats:

"Merte" won all of his one-on-one duels

He completed all of his 36 passes and was the only player without a single misplaced pass

The Bremen defender also didn't commit a single foul

Croatia v Germany, Merte's stats:

"Merte" had the least one-on-ones for the ball for the German side. As against Poland, he had two and won both.

In the opening match, he didn't miss on any passes. This time he had five (a rate of 9.4 Prozent).

Per Mertesacker has yet to commit a foul in this EURO.

[Oliver_Kahn]

That's just pointless stats because it doesn't count the errors you make. Errors such as missed tackles or missed headers *hint*hint*.

Who cares if he hasn't committed a foul or didn't miss a pass, I'd rather if Pepe commits 20 fouls and missed 30 passes per match than seeing him completely miss a header which lead to a goal.

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Frings Vows To Defeat Austria

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings has vowed that his side will beat Austria on Monday to make the Euro 2008 quarter-finals and ensure there is no repeat of previous early exits from the last two European Championships.

Germany will face neighbours and rivals Austria in Vienna in their final Group B game needing a win to safe-guard their place in the quarter-finals after a shock defeat to Croatia last Thursday, which put their hopes of further progress in jeopardy.

Having won their third European title at Euro 1996, Germany then came home early from the Netherlands-Belgium tournament in 2000 and were also eliminated without a win after the group stage in Portugal in 2004, a record which they are extremely keen to change.

And Frings feels that the Germany side of Euro 2008 are much better than four years ago and will beat Austria to set up a possible quarter-final against Portugal in Basel next Thursday.

"You can't compare the situation with 2004, because the current team is much better than it was then," said Frings to Reuters.

"In 2004, our elimination was logical, because our levels were not good enough to play in such a tournament.

"It is different here, we have a better team, we have shown it in the past and we will prove it again on Monday.

"I even believe that to be under a bit of pressure will be useful for us for the remainder of the tournament.

"I live with the principal we will eliminate the host country and will go on to win other matches here."

Frings admits tension is high in the Germany camp, but insists that they will use the shock defeat by Croatia to bounce back having been humbled 2-1 by Slaven Bilic's side in Klagenfurt last Thursday.

Frings insists that they will win in Vienna to stay in the tournament.

"I am convinced we will qualify for the quarter-finals, we just had a bad match against Croatia," added the 31-year-old.

"There is a tension amongst the squad, because of the situation we have put ourselves in after a bad performance, but that is positive.

"We always believe we have a good team which can win the match against Austria.

"If everyone does their job, we know we have nothing to fear against any team.

"Against Croatia, many things didn't function and we have talked about it as a squad.

"The coach has discussed it with each and every one of us, but now it is the past, we concentrate on Austria a game we will win."

Goal.com - Euro 2008 - Frings Vows To Defeat Austria

[Beninato]

Go Austria! lol.

The way Germany played against Croatia, I have little faith.

[Vargas_4]

You do make a point.

Germany has to step up and show their worth. Even if it's against Austria.

We have to start improving NOW if we are thinking of reaching the semi-finals.

[__-SNAKE-__]

Germany wont win this match so easily as before, Austria will have to prove their worth. I think Germany will win by a small margin unless Lehmann and Ballack screw up again and hopefully Croatia will draw against the Poles. I rather begin with Hitzlsperger on the left wing and Fritz on the right since Bastian is suspended and Poldi upfront with Miro, Gomez and Kuranyi can kiss the bench. While Piotr should come on for Friedrich in the second half and Fritz playing RB.

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The referee has been apointed for the match: Manuel Enrique Mejuto González (ESP).

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Can Germany's top dogs bite as well as bark?

German captain Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings will have to exercise their authority in Monday's do-or-die Group game against austria on Monday.

They may be the heart of the German team, but that heart beat erratically as Germany lost 2-1 to Croatia. and there was no external pacemaker to hand as the team floundrered against the canny Croats.

"Support needed"

The not-so-dynamic duo of Thursday will need to step up a gear on Monday against Austria to ensure Germany a quarter final slot. Says team manager Oliver Bierhoff: "We're going to need support from the experienced players - above all from Michael Ballack but also from Thorsten Frings.

An early German exit could permanently dent the the two players' image. But Ballack has often had to swallow criticism of not being there when it matters. At 31, he has four German champions' and three cupwinners' medals and is a longstanding fixture in the German team. At Chelsea, he appears to have matured into a midfield leader. Even so, Ballack is often tagged as the eternal number two rather than a winner.

Taking it personally

It matters to Ballack, personally, to achieve success with his team mates at EURO 2008. He was bitterly disappointed after the Crotia match, not just with his team but with his own performance. He lacked the leader's touch he showed in earlier games. And in attack, he and Frings combined poorly and achieved little.

Even so, coach Joachim Löw took Ballack under his wing ahead of the crunch match against Austria: "It's wrong to focus too much on Michael Ballack. The Croatians used a skillful two-man cover to keep him in check." But Löw won't use Ballack as a forward against Austria: "His role will be the same as before."

More attacking

Löw wants to see Frings and Ballack complement each other, as they have "superby" in the past: "Frings is the one who has to ensure that Ballack is properly covered. He plays in front of the back four. That means Michael can use his strength and running to be more in attack," says Löw.

Frings, who plays for Bremen, admitted there would have to be more understanding between players in all sections. "We allowed too many gaps to open up," he says.

Serving the team

Frings is full of praise for the way Ballack sacrifices some of his attacking strengths to serve the team as a whole. Ballack says he has no problem with that: "I don't have to prove that I am dangerous in front of goal. I've already shwon where my strengths are. I'm 31 now and want to win a title with Germany at last. So it's natural to do what is best for the team."

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