Group B kicks-off on Sunday and tournament favourites Germany will be looking to get off to a flying start against neighbours Poland, who are in the first European Championships finals. Everything looks set for a cracking match up.

Best Foot Forward

Joachim Löw’s side rightly come into the tournament as one of the favourites following a superb qualification process and Germany will no doubt be looking to get themselves off to a winning start against Poland in Klagenfurt in their opener.

The Germans cruised through their qualifying group that included the Czech Republic and many believe they finished second on purpose as to avoid a ‘Group of Death’ like the one that Italy, France and Holland find themselves in.

The two teams met in the group stage at the World Cup 2006 in Dortmund and it took a 91st minute goal from substitute Oliver Neville to secure a narrow 1-0 win for the host nation. The occasion was huge then and the rivalry is such that the forthcoming clash is likely to be just as massive.

The German team that took to the field two years ago against Poland remains pretty much intact with just one or two changes expected. Co-trainer Hansi Flick has even joked that the Germans will be using exactly the same team talk they used last time out.

The one worry concerning the Germans going into the tournament is surprisingly their defence. Keeper Jens Lehmann has not had a lot of football this season at Arsenal and has not looked on top of his game during recent warm-up games.

Christophe Metzelder, a Löw favourite, will partner Per Mertesacker in the centre of the defence, but he too has missed a lot of games this season for Real Madrid through injury. The one positive thing is that the same concerns were being raised prior to the World Cup in 2006 and they proved unfounded as the Germans reached the semi-final.

Poland Look To Beenhakker

After breaking new ground in qualifying for their first European Championship finals, Poland will enter their opening Group B match against Germany looking for another first in the form of a long-awaited win over their neighbours. The Poles have failed to register a win in the previous 15 meetings between the two sides.

Poland will look to the experience of their coach Leo Beenhakker to see them through against the Germans. After losing his opening game in the qualifying group, the Dutch coach led the country to the top of the group ahead of Portugal and qualified the Poles for the European Championships for the first time.

The Polish tabloid press have certainly been stoking up the fires in recent days with a series of inflammatory front pages which haven’t gone down to well in the German camp. The have been images of Beenhakker holding the severed heads of both Ballack and Löw and plenty of jingoistic references.

Coach Leo Beenhakker has described the publicity stunt as “mad, dirty and sick” and will be hoping the incident doesn’t impact too much upon his side’s preparations for the vital opening clash with the Germans.

The label of underdogs will suit the Poles. The pressure will be very much on the Germans and to even gain a point will be seen as a success. A win however would surely cause national jubilation.

FORM GUIDE

Germany

17/11/07 Germany 4 Cyprus 0 (Euro Qualifier)

27/11/07 Germany 0 Wales 0 (Euro Qualifier)

06/02/08 Austria 0 Germany 3 (Friendly)

26/03/08 Switzerland 0 Germany 4 (Friendly)

27/05/08 Germany 2 Belarus 2 (Friendly)

31/05/08 Germany 2 Serbia 1 (Friendly)

Poland

06/02/08 Czech Rep 0 Poland 2 (Friendly)

27/02/08 Poland 2 Estonia 0 (Friendly)

26/0308 Poland 0 USA 3 (Friendly)

26/05/08 Poland 1 Macedonia 1 (Friendly)

28/05/08 Poland 1 Albania 1 (Friendly)

01/06/08 Poland 1 Denmark 1 (Friendly)


TEAM NEWS

Germany

Joachim Löw has intimated that he may play Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski on the left hand side of midfield in what will be the only real surprise in his line-up. Mario Gomez looks to have won the battle to partner Miroslav Klose up front with Marcell Jansen to play at left back with Bayern team mate Philipp Lahm on the other flank.

Predicted Line-Up: Lehmann, Lahm, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Jansen, Frings, Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Gomez, Klose

Poland

Poland’s preparations have been hit after Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski suffered a hamstring injury which means he will miss the finals.

However, there is better news regarding defender Michal Zewlakow, who has recovered from a leg injury and will be ready for his country’s opening game in Group B. The other late injury news concerns third-choice keeper Tomasz Kuszczak, who has suffered a back injury and is also out of the tournament.

Predicted Line-Up: Boruc, Zewlakow, Wawrzyniak, Bak, Wasilewski, Lewandowski, Lobodzinski, Murawski, Dudka, Smolarek, Zurawski

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Germany- Michael Ballack

The Chelsea midfielder will want to lead his country to Euro 2008 glory and end a barren run which has seen the Germans not win the tournament since 1996. A win in Austria/ Switzerland will also go a long way to dampen Ballacks’s personal disappointment of losing out on this season’s Champions League. He has hit form at just the right time towards the end of the season and should be Germany’s key-man in the coming weeks.

Poland- Mariusz Lewandowski

Poland face an uphill task if they are to cause an upset and beat the Germans in this Group B opener. The midfield area will be key and if enforcer Lewandowski can shackle Ballack then part of the battle will have been won. The Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder will also look to get forward at set-pieces to provide a goal threat.

PREDICTION

Germany are a real tournament side and will be looking to top the group despite three matches to come against Poland, Croatia and Austria. They haven’t looked to be on top form in their last two friendly matches against Belarus and Serbia, but should be good enough to secure a win over rivals Poland in this Group B opener.

Germany 2-0 Poland