Germany Faces Czech Showdown
June 23, 2004
Despite only managing two draws in Germany's first two matches, Coach Rudi Völler and his team remain confident of their chances to make it to the next round of Euro 2004. The Czech Republic has already qualified, but the fate of the rest of Group D will be decided on Wednesday.
A draw could theoretically suffice for Germany if the Netherlands and Latvia also tied, but that's not how German playmaker Michael Ballack and his teammates are heading into the game. "It's all or nothing, but that's what we've been expecting all along," Ballack said on Tuesday.
The German-Czech showdown is a rematch of the Euro 1996 final. Back then the Germans managed to beat the Czechs 2-1 after Oliver Bierhoff scored a "golden goal" to give Germany its third European championship title. But this time, after two strong opening matches, the Czechs are the favorites to win.
World-class midfielder and Czech team captain Pavel Nedved led his side to come-from-behind victories against both Latvia and the Netherlands. News that Czech coach Karl Bruckner would rest Nedved and other important starters could improve Germany's chances -- but realistically not by much.
The Czech substitutes will be keen to make the most of their chance to show what they can do, increasing their incentive to give the Germanys a good drubbing. "Those who haven't played here so far will want to prove to the coach they're good enough to start," said defender Roman Tyce.
Accordingly, German captain and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn took little comfort knowing the Czechs would likely field their B team. "To think that this might be to our advantage would be the stupidest thing to do," Kahn said. "Every team that plays Germany comes out to play hard."