Jurgen braced for Klose encounter with Poles
While the three-time World Cup winners have been riding a wave of euphoria since their entertaining 4-2 victory over Costa Rica, Pawel Janas’ troops have come under fire following a dismal performance in a 2-0 opening loss to Ecuador.
Klinsmann has warned his players the clash with their neighbours will be “completely different” from the curtain-raiser last Friday.
“It’s Poland’s last chance to stay in the tournament,” said the national team coach.
“They need to make something happen and I certainly expect a close result.”
It has not gone unnoticed in the Germany camp that Poland’s stunning opening defeat has created a stir at home, putting the team under added pressure.
“There is a huge aggression in their country,” said Klinsmann.
“The mood is tense. It is five minutes to 12 for them and they know that a whole nation is extremely unhappy about their opening performance.”
All eyes will be on Germany’s attacking duo of Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, who were both born in Poland and still communicate in their mother tongue on the pitch.
Even though neither one has made a secret about their close ties to their home country, they have left no doubts about their allegiances on Wednesday.
“Make no mistake: I desperately want to win this match,” said Klose.
“I was born in their country but I play for Germany. This game is very special for me.”
The Werder Bremen hitman, who grabbed a brace in the opening win over Costa Rica, knows it will be do or die for his home country.
“They will be extremely dangerous and attack us with a knife between their teeth,” Klose responded when asked about the mood in the Polish camp. “It will not be easy but we will be prepared.”
History clearly favours Klinsmann’s troops as they have never tasted defeat against Poland – winning 10 and drawing four.
“I don’t think the Poles will have stats in their heads when they are on the pitch,” Klinsmann said.
“But we are certainly looking forward to the very special atmosphere in Dortmund.”
Klinsmann is expected to make at least one change to his starting line-up with Michael Ballack “definitely” returning from a nagging calf injury that has prevented him training for 10 days.
Right-back Arne Friedrich has been made a scapegoat for the two defensive slips against Costa Rica, but Klinsmann claims he has faith in his back-line.
“We committed two mistakes and they scored two goals,” said Klinsmann.
“We have no problems with Arne. We know what he is capable of doing and a bad performance is not a problem at all.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is looking forward to a return visit to Dortmund, where he spent five seasons with Borussia.
“In terms of the atmosphere, this will probably be the best match because the stadium is fantastic,” Lehmann said.
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