WORLD CUP 2010 GERMANY v ENGLAND:LIKE TAKING the penalties, keeping the media sweet seems to come more naturally to the Germans than to the English and so, in what may well have been a gesture of goodwill to their press yesterday, the DFB took their players on a whirlwind tour of a local safari park.
For the boys from Bildand co the "big game hunting" and "three lion tamer" intros must pretty much have written themselves.
The Germans, needless to say, are quietly confident about tomorrow’s game in Bloemfontein even if Joachim Loew and one or two of his more experienced squad members have expressed some concerns about the scale of the test that awaits a team which includes so many young and inexperienced players.
Of more pressing concern to the German coach yesterday, though, was key midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger’s race to be fit for the game with the 25-year-old undergoing intensive treatment to a thigh strain picked up in the 1-0 win over Ghana.
In the absence of Michael Ballack, Schweinsteiger has taken on much of the responsibility and his absence would be a considerable blow to German hopes of containing the English in central midfield.
The way Loew talked up the Bayern Munich man’s importance after training yesterday, however, scarcely suggested that he expects Schweinsteiger to be sidelined while Philipp Lahm hailed his club-mate’s fighting spirit which, he predicted, would ensure that he made the starting line-up.
If the midfielder does miss out then Toni Kroos, another 20-year-old with just a couple of caps to his name, looks set to start, while Miroslav Klose is bound to replace Cacau up front having served his one-match suspension.
Marcell Jansen looks likely to start at left back in place of Jerome Boateng with Holger Badstuber apparently out of favour since his error paved the way for Serbia’s winner.
More interesting in its way, is what Fabio Capello will do now that he has belatedly discovered a winning formula, albeit against a team that was representing the smallest country at these finals. The Italian said yesterday that everyone in the England squad is fit and available for selection which, if true, could mean a recall for Ledley King.
The Tottenham defender, were he really fully recovered from the groin strain picked up against the USA, would certainly be seen as preferable for Matthew Upson or Jamie Carragher, neither of whom distinguished themselves himself when stepping into King’s boots to partner John Terry.
But having seen one gamble on an injured player backfire a couple of weeks back when he started James Milner only to haul him off half an hour in, Capello will not want to make the same mistake against tougher opponents in a game that could run to 120 minutes.
Capello has clearly contemplated the game going that far and beyond, naming Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Milner and Gareth Barry as his likely penalty takers in the event that the two sides have to be separated in that way for a third time.
Barry, though, looked a weak link against Slovenia during the week and if it now looks fairly certain that he will retain his place then it’s still far from certain that he would still be on the pitch by the times things had to go to spot-kicks.
England’s prospects in such a scenario would not seem to be helped this time around by the fact that Lampard, the team’s regular penalty taker, has missed his last two, while Rooney has so far struggled to produce anything like his best form, looking predictably disgruntled as a result.
David James insists that he, at least, is unfazed by the contents of the record books, observing that this is just “another football match . . . whatever the historical references”.
Still, Capello will be anxious that his players build on Wednesday’s improved performance and avoid the need for sudden death. If his side are to pull it off then they will have tighten up defensively for, despite enjoying two thirds of the possession in Port Elizabeth, they still allowed Slovenia almost as many shots on target (nine) as they managed themselves (11) in their 1-0 win. Germany, one suspects, would make rather more of so many opportunities.
The speed of Thomas Muller will also be a concern while Mesut Ozil has displayed an ability to open up defences with his passing that would certainly cause Upson terrible problems if he plays but does not get to grips with his role rather more effectively.
At the other end, England have the capacity to cause the Germans some problems of their own with Gerrard, Lampard and Milner all possessing a proven ability to get forward and score goals. Assuming Jermain Defoe starts again, they will have pace around the box too, but it is hard to see them winning and going on to Cape Town next Saturday without Rooney really coming good.
Loew, however, is adamant that Per Mertesacker will be a match for the Manchester United striker, insisting that the centre back is a “pillar” in big games like this.The Germans rarely do self doubt on these occasions, of course, and certainly never show it.
Capello hinting at a possible return by King, on the other hand, might just suggest that the Italian is slightly less convinced by his own side’s capacity to handle Klose and co.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
ENGLAND: James; Johnson, Terry, Upson, A Cole; Milner, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard; Rooney, Defoe.
GERMANY: Neuer; Lahm, Friedrich, Mertesacker, Jansen; Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Khedira; Podolski, Muller, Klose.
