Euro 2008 Group B Preview: Austria vs. Germany

Austria

vs

Germany

Monday, June 16, Kickoff 2045CET
Vienna (Austria) – Travel to Vienna

THE BIG PICTURE

Germany goes through with a win or a draw. Austria goes through with a win, provided they keep a better goal differential than Poland.

AUSTRIA

Three Key Players:

• Martin Hiden will probably be replacing suspended defender Sebastian Proedl. The Austrian defense has looked relatively strong up to this point. Can Hiden keep it up?
• Rene Aufhauser will likely be the midfielder marking Michael Ballack. Is he up to the task?
• Martin Harnik is only twenty-one, but this would be a great time for the midfielder to make his mark on the international scene. Complicating factor, though? He was recently quoted in an Austrian tabloid as saying, “We scare the **** out of Germany.” Expect the Germans to be gunning for him.

Austria squad
Austria Team Profile

Team News:
Central defender Sebastian Proedl is suspended.

Andreas Ivanschitz was expected to be one of Austria’s big stars this tournament, but his lack of form has led to speculation that he might be dropped to the bench.

Visit J at the Austria Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

Buy Austria team gear here.

Germany

Three Key Players:

• Michael Ballack had a horribly ineffective game on Thursday. Expect him to do everything possible today to make people forget about it.
• Miroslav Klose, striker and major part of Germany’s game plan, has not scored yet. In fact, nobody has scored but Podolski — as a midfielder. Klose is hungry, and this could be his game.
• Philip Lahm is another one who’s going to want to prove that he’s better than his performance last week. He did not play very well when he was started at rightback on Thursday, but things started looking up in the second half when he was moved to leftback. Leftback Marcell Jansen is injured, so expect to see Lahm trying to build on Thursday’s second half performance.

Germany squad
Germany Team Profile

Team News:

Both Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm should be fit for the game, but Marcell Jansen will probably miss the match with a shoulder injury.

And of course Bastian Schweinsteiger will be out, serving his suspension for that stupid red card.

Mario Gomez has been unimpressive this tournament; he may lose his starting slot up front to Lukas Podolski.

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

Buy Germany national team gear here

BIG BATTLES

Germany vs overconfidence and high expectations
Germany showed on Thursday that it’s not necessarily a good thing to come into the tournament as one of the favorites. Did they learn their lesson against Croatia?

Austrian offense vs Jens Lehmann
Lehmann showed last week that his lack of playing time at Arsenal may be affecting his performance. Austria is not known for having the strongest attack force. But if the Austrian offense can find a way to get past the German defense and test Lehmann, they might find a way to get through and score.

Germany vs the Austrian home field advantage
I’m lifting this directly from Chris’s Austria-Croatia preview, because it still holds true.

Leo Beenhakker said it best: “Many times in tournaments we’ve seen the host team playing at a much higher level based on the atmosphere around the team and among the people.”

Austria has played better in this tournament than one would expect from the 92nd-ranked team in the world. With a little luck, they could be giant-killers. Or maybe a lot of luck. But it’s not impossible.

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LIVEBLOG

Follow the Austria vs Germany LiveBlog here.