Poland coach hints at beating Germany for first time

VIENNA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Poland coach Leo Beenhakker hinted on Saturday that Poland could beat Germany for the first time in their Euro 2008 encounter in Klagenfurt of Austria on Sunday, so as to rewriting the team's record with their western neighbors.

"I know that we have never won against Germany, but what we can also say about history is that the two teams have never met each other in this tournament," Beenhakker told a pre-match press conference.

The Dutchman is confident ahead of the Euro 2008 Group B encounter at Woerthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt.

"We know that in 1996 Germany were champions, but since then they have not won any matches at all in the EURO finals. We're talking about history, and I did my homework," he added.

In the European football championships in 2000 and 2004, Germany was eliminated in the first round and did not win a single match.

"We will have our usual preparation, like we did for the qualifying matches," said Beenhakker, who lost third-choice goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak and midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski to injury in the build-up to the finals.

In the qualifying round of Euro 2008, Poland ended up with the first place in Group A, a big surprise for fans from home and abroad.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said he has noted Poland's healthy progress during Beenhakker's reign in the intervening period.

"Compared to 2006, Poland today have a much stronger team, they have improved and they played extraordinarily well during the qualifying round," Loew said.

For his own team, Loew said he was happy that all 23 of his players are fit for the curtain-raiser with Poland.

"We know about the strengths of the Polish team, but I believe that if we can implement what we know and, if we can dictate the pace on the pitch, we will be able to play and do so quite daringly, " Loew said.