Germany-Poland clash tough, yet without much suspense

VIENNA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Fuelled by a fierce tongue war between German and Polish press, the clash between Germany and Poland in the 2008 European football championship in Klagenfurt of Austria on Sunday is set to be a tough battle.

But it is widely believed that there is no much suspense and the Euro 2008 curtain-raiser will go in favor of Germany.

As favorites for the championship title, Germany boasts a full-strength team and remains upbeat in their encounter with Poland, one of their long-time rivals.

Thursday's editions of two Polish tabloids, Fakt and Super Express, declared a front-page war against the German team by calling for the heads of German striker Michael Ballack and coach Joachim Loew.

The move was criticized by politicians, players and coaches from Poland and Germany, but would fuel up the competition between the two rivals.

The two countries' history and the fans' flame from both sides would also help motivate the players to prepare for a tit for tat battle.

Joachim Loew said he was confident that Germany's 12-year wait for a European Championship title would soon be over as he counts down to Sunday's opener against Poland.

"I think we will end this streak," said the 48-year-old.

"I am thrilled that we are finally ready to go," he added.

After two weeks of training in Spain and Switzerland, German players are showing enormous improvement in their performance and hitting their peak condition.

Captain Michael Ballack has consigned his UEFA Champions League disappointment to the past and has moved on. He has shown good form in the warm-ups of Euro 2008.

Despite some criticism over midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger's recent performance, left-back Philipp Lahm Bastian said there was no problem with the form of his Bayern's teammate.

"He always puts in his best performances at big tournaments and has helped lead us to success," Lahm said.

For the defense line, Real Madrid defender Christoph Metzelder has already fully recovered from injury, adding Loew's confidence.

"He has recovered and he's been unbelievably positive just like Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich. The back line is getting better every day," Loew told reporters on Friday.

Another interesting factor of the match is whether German strikers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, who are of Polish origin, would score goals in the clash with their former country fellows.

For Poles, they are facing an uphill battle as the Polish team has never sealed a single victory in the history of their encounters with Germany.

In their latest battle in the 2006 German World Cup, Poland were kicked back home with a humiliating 0-1.

What makes worst for Leo Beenhakker is that aggravating hamstring injury sent Poland winger Jakub Blaszczykowski, who plays for Borussia Dortmund, out of the Polish team just three days ahead of the match.

However, the Polish team is by no means a petite shrimp. Poland edged out Portugal to take the first group place in the qualifying round of Euro 2008. They even beat Portugal 2-1 at home.

In two international friendlies earlier this year, Poland defeated Finland and the Czech Republic 1-0 and 2-0, respectively.

Poland midfielder Jacek Krzynowek, who plays in Bundesliga clubVfL Wolfsburg, claimed that his team do not think about what happened in the past.

"We're not thinking about what happened 10, 20 or 50 years ago. The important thing is that we are prepared to win this game against Germany and we are ready," he said.