Germany and Argentina set for battle

Soccer News

Germany and Argentina set for battle

Berlin, June 29 (DPA) The World Cup will lose one of the two teams to have impressed most at the tournament when Germany face Argentina in Berlin Friday.

The hosts, buoyed by four successive victories, go into the quarter-final confident they can beat Argentina, who have not been defeated by a reunified Germany in four games.

Since West Germany defeated Argentina in the 1990 World Cup final in Rome, Germany have lost twice, in 1993 and 2002, and drawn twice 2-2 last year, once in the Confederations Cup.

Germany are also out to end a winless streak against traditional football powers going back to October 2000 when a Dietmar Hamann goal was enough to give the Germans a 1-0 win over England.

Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann may take heart from other statistics: in 16 World Cup matches against South American sides, Germany have only lost twice.

Both those defeats came in finals - against Argentina in 1986 and Brazil in the 2002 finals.

The Germans also have a strong record in quarter-finals, with seven victories, three defeats and a draw (with a victory on penalties).

Klinsmann, a member of the 1990 World Cup-winning side, says anything other than victory would be unacceptable. 'For a football nation like us the quarter-final cannot be the yardstick. We have to beat Argentina and reach the last four.'

Klinsmann says Germany are now far stronger than they were a year ago when his side came close to beating Argentina in the Confederations Cup. Neither captain Michael Ballack nor striker Torsten Frings played in that game.

'We were only at top level for 70 minutes, now we can go full out for 120 minutes if necessary,' he said.

Klinsmann is not expected to change a team, which has now gone three matches without conceding a goal. Both Ballack and Klose have recovered from slight injuries, which prevented them training with the team Tuesday.

Argentina coach Jose Pekermann was giving nothing away on his team selection, but a surprise - perhaps Lionel Messi starting up front - was not being ruled out in the German camp.

'We are still assessing things, but there won't be many changes,' said assistant coach Hugo Tocalli late Wednesday.

Former great Diego Maradona visited the squad Wednesday evening to give the players some tips, but striker Javier Saviola said the players knew what they had to do.

'We have to play our game at 100 percent,' he said. 'It will be an all-out game right from the start. We want to win for our families, our fans and for our country,' he said.

Three players go into the match on yellow cards, Germany's Torsten Frings and the Argentina defenders Juan Sorin and Gabriel Heinze.

Probable Line-ups:

Germany: Lehmann - Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm - Schneider, Frings, Ballack, Schweinsteiger - Klose, Podolski.

Argentina: Abbondanzieri - Sorin, Heinze, Ayala, Burdisso - Maxi Rodriguez, Mascherano, Riquelme, Lucho Gonzalez - Crespo, Saviola.

Latest News

Star stuff

Germany and Argentina set for battle