Bullish Bobic ready for Holland

Germany striker Fredi Bobic believes his experience and physical approach could provide the perfect weapon to overcome bitter rivals Holland.

The pair meet in a mouth-watering encounter on Tuesday, with the match sure to provide a stern test of Germany’s ability to progress through the so-called "Group of Death", with Holland and the Czech Republic clear favourites to go through.

There is also the widely-held belief that none of the strikers in the German squad possess the world-class striking prowess of previous generations.

Germany coach Rudi Voller looks set to choose two from Bobic, Miroslav Klose and Kevin Kuranyi, although all three endured a lean season in the Bundesliga.

Therefore, 35-times capped Bobic, whose goals during qualifying helped Germany to top their group, feels his experience could prove vital in a potentially volatile clash.

He declared: “I am in very good shape physically and have the experience to handle a match like this.

“Rudi knows that, and I’ve done well and scored against Jaap Stam when we’ve played Holland in the past.

“Stam is a great defender but I think my style of play would put him under a lot of pressure.

“Experience will be a very important factor in this game and I’m hoping Rudi will give me the nod.”

Meanwhile, after Holland confirmed that Ruud van Nistelrooy would play ahead of Patrick Kluivert after ominous sniping in the Dutch camp, Bobic feels the Germans may hold a key psychological advantage.

“Man for man, they have the better players, without doubt,” the Hertha Berlin striker admitted.

“But throughout our squad, all 23 men, we have a great spirit and as we have shown so often in the past, that can be very important.

“Stopping van Nistelrooy is vital and if we can do that, then we have every chance. And don’t forget, we have Michael Ballack and Oliver Khan, who are as good as anything Holland have got.

“We know they will have most of the possession, probably about 70%, but you expect that against the Dutch.

“We need to take our chances when they come and hopefully get a draw, which would be a fantastic result, because I’m sure we can go on and beat Latvia and the Czech Republic in the next two games.”