Euro 2008 Group B Preview: Croatia vs. Germany

Croatia

vs

Germany

Thursday, June 12, Kickoff 1800 CET
Klagenfurt (Austria) - Travel to Klagenfurt (Austria)

THE BIG PICTURE

It’s the battle of the winners. Both teams are coming in feeling confident after taking three points in their first games. (Although we think that Germany’s performance merits just a little more confidence than Croatia’s.) The winner is looking at an excellent chance of going through. The loser will still need to sweat.

CROATIA

Three Key Players:

• Luka Modric scored the goal for Croatia against Austria that gave them the three points in game 1. Okay, granted, it was a penalty in the fourth minute against the 92nd-ranked team in the world, and that was the team’s only score. But hey. Three points is three points. And the kid has the talent to spare — assuming he’s recovered from a mild ankle (or hamstring, or Achilles tendon) injury.
• Mladen Petric is the guy who’s taking the place of the injured Eduardo. Big boots to fill, but important ones.
• Niko Kranjcar has been tipped by his Portsmouth teammate David James as the player who will make a difference in Euro 2008. And if you can’t trust David James, well…

Croatia squad
Croatia Team Profile

Team News:
The big question: Will key player Luka Modric have fully recovered from a mild ankle/Achilles tendon/hamstring injury? (I’ve read all three, and all from legit news sources. So your guess is as good as mine.)

Visit Mario at the Croatia Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

Buy Croatia team gear here.

GERMANY

Three Key Players:

• Lukas Podolski has to go on my “key players” lis. And he has to go first, because he scored that brace on Sunday. If I didn’t list him first, I think they’d revoke my membership in the Soccer Blogger Society. And none of us wants that.
• Michael Ballack, even at thirty-one, still marshals the midfield with aplomb.
• Mario Gomez has the ability to be a goal-scoring machine. He’s shown it before, both for Germany and for his club, but he wasn’t all that impressive on Sunday. I’m expecting great things today, if only because I picked him to win the Golden Boot. Don’t let me down, Mario!

German squad
Germany Team Profile

Team News:
It looks like everybody’s healthy and ready to play. Coach Joachim Loew’s biggest dilemma will be deciding which of his talented players he should start.

Visit Jan and Angela at the Germany Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

BIG BATTLES

Mladen Petric vs The Ghost of Eduardo Would you like to be the person taking over for a goal-machine like Eduardo?

Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack vs Luca Modric He who wins the midfield wins the game?

Vedran Corluka vs Lucas Podolski Croatia’s right vs. Germany’s left. Can Croatia shut down the brace-scoring, Polish-born German, who will be far less conflicted about scoring goals today? (Of course, if Podolski starts somewhere other than on the left, he’ll be somebody else’s problem, so never mind.)

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