Rudi looks to Ballack

THE presence of so many Bundesliga players in the Czech Republic squad is a huge encouragement to a subdued Germany ahead of their critical game in Group D of the European Championship in Lisbon tonight.

Six of the Czech Republic squad play their club football in Germany. Familiarity, added to the certainty the Czechs will rest some of their stars, is expected to give Germany the edge they will need to pick up the points they must win if they are to advance.

A draw will be enough to give Germany second place behind the Czechs if the game between Netherlands and Latvia is also drawn. But the only way they can be sure of survival is to win and if they achieve this then they are guaranteed to advance.

The risk of elimination for Germany is very real, however, after two low-key performances, against Netherlands and Latvia. They yielded just one goal from Torsten Frings and a meagre two points.

Germany’s form has been so mediocre, it would not be a huge surprise if they were eliminated. The competition in Group D has been the most desultory of the tournament despite the fireworks anticipated from three former winners of this championship.

Czech Republic’s superiority has been impressive to date, their achievement in coming from behind twice to beat Latvia 2-1 and then Netherlands 3-2 not only confirmed the view that they had the ability to go all the way, it spoke volumes for the spirit and unity of the squad.

The form of Pavel Nedved, Milan Baros, Vladimir Smicer and Karel Poborsky has been encouraging and the astute leadership of their chief coach, Karel Bruckner, has had a very positive influence on their progress. His substitutions have consistently worked to the Czech’s benefit.

Now, however, with qualification already secured, the Czechs are expected to slip into neutral mode and withdraw some of their more influential players from a match which, for them, is meaningless. Accordingly it is expected that Germany’s cause will be helped by not having to counter the brilliant Nedved, the formidable giant centre-forward Jan Koller or the flying winger, Poborsky.

Germany, it is clear from their form to date, will be glad of all the help they can receive. They have come in for some bitter criticism from the German press, their conservative tactics and un-inspiring use of their attacking players drawing particular criticism.

Manager Rudi Voeller is accused of employing too many in midfield to the detriment of the team. Dietmar Hamann, Michael Ballack, Frank Baumann and Bernd Schneider all play their trade in midfield and Germany’s play has been too predictable and too contrived to be successful.

They have invested too much responsibility in their promising striker, Kevin Kuranyi, and while he has laboured with a will and considerable energy, he has generally been left without support.

Voeller sought to address this problem by introducing the 19-year-old Bastian Schweinsteiger in their last match against Latvia, without much success.

Schweinsteiger is spoken of as the next German superstar but this championship has come just a little too soon for him. He showed his raw inexperience against Latvia by attempting too much and too often lost possession as a result.

The other obvious drawback Voller has to cope with is the lack of a genuine left-sided attacking player. Left-back Phillipp Lahm, of Stuttgart, has had a good tournament but, at 20 years of age, it expecting too much of him to supplement his excellent defensive work by figuring in attack.

Much of the blame for the perceived lack of balance in the German team is put down to the influence of the assistant coach, Michael Skibbe. He is labelled a ‘theorist’ by the German media who suggest his football is too firmly aligned to the text-books and takes too little account of practical experience.

There is no doubt the Germans are not as strong as they were two years ago when they reached the final of the World Cup and gave Brazil a very fine match before falling to two goals from Ronaldo.

One of the big reasons for this is the surprising fall from grace of centre-forward Miroslav Klose, who was such an influential figure in Japan and South Korea. He scored fewer than ten goals in more than 30 Bundesliga appearances for Kaiserslautern this past season and is not expected to figure any time soon.

Midfielder Michael Ballack claims he is not putting himself under pressure to score goals in Euro 2004 despite his country’s shortcomings upfront. Ballack has netted 19 times for Germany, more than any of the strikers and Germans fans are crossing their fingers that the Bayern Munich man rediscovers his midas touch.

“It is not important whether I get the goals or someone else does as long as someone scores,” Ballack told a press conference. “I am not putting myself under pressure.”

Ballack is the man the Germans will look to for leadership, however, and coach Voeller said: “Michael has worked hard and is now the focal point just like Figo, Zidane and Beckham are for their nations but he can cope with that.”

Ballack has proved the man for the big occasion scoring the decisive goals in the 1-0 wins against the US and South Korea in the quarter-final and semi-final of the 2002 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Tomas Galasek is another Czech player who could find himself on the sidelines having picked up his side’s only booking in the dramatic 3-2 win over Netherlands. Coach Bruckner is unlikely to run the risk of the midfielder picking up an unnecessary ban when he does not need to.

Germany (probable, 4-5-1): Kahn; Friedrich, Woerns, Nowotny, Lahm; Hamann, Baumann; Schweinsteiger, Ballack, Frings; Kuranyi.

Czech Republic (4-4-2): Blazek; Hubschman, Ujfalusi, Bolf, Jiranek; Plasil, Tyce, Smicer, Vachousek; Heinz, Baros.