Daily Nation / Wednesday, June 14, 2006 / SPORT / 63 German Poles threaten old Tension ahead nation’s hopes BERLIN of Arabic derby oland face the cruel threat of being knocked out of the World MUNICH think both teams have a chance to win P Cup by the best two Polish-born because both want a good start to the strikers in the tournament when they ear of defeat and an early group. We are in our third consecutive face Germany in their Group A match World Cup exit has domi- finals and it is our aim to reach the sec- in Dortmund today. nated the mood of Tunisia ond round this time.” Miroslav Klose, who scored twice for and Saudi Arabia ahead of Tunisia are the only African nation Germany in their opening day 4-2 win today’s Arabic derby in with previous experience at the finals. over Costa Rica, and his precocious F After losing on penalties to Nigeria in Group H. sidekick Lukas Podolski, 21, were born Tunisia’s French coach Roger this year’s Nations Cup quarter-finals, in Poland and came to Germany when Lemerre, may uniquely have won suc- Trabelsi said the 2004 African champi- they were children. “We’re glad they’re cessive continental championships in ons must learn to avoid costly errors. on our side because they are exceptional Europe and Africa but, after overseeing Tunisia will be without leading striker, players,” Germany coach Juergen Klins- holders France’s first round exit at the Brazilian-born Francileudo dos Santos, mann said at a news conference ahead 2002 finals, hopes to erase bad memories top scorer in the qualifiers with six goals, of the game. Poland, beaten 2-0 by of the global tournament. and have made two injury-enforced Ecuador in their first game, need a win Saudi Arabia, in their fourth consecu- changes to their squad. Their preferred to get back in contention for a place in tive World Cup, also want to wipe out a 4-4-2 formation is likely to find midfield the last 16. For Germany, a second vic- nightmare -- they were thrashed 8-0 by space at a premium against Saudi Ara- tory would all but guarantee their Germany in their first outing at the 2002 bia’s 4-5-1, intricate approach work and progress. finals in Japan and departed without dangerous counter-attacking. From the statistics, it does not look scoring a goal. good for the Poles. So it is no surprise that Lemerre, 65 ■ Probable teams ■ Line-ups this month, and his Saudi counterpart, Tunisia (4-4-2): 1-Ali Boumnijel; 6-Hatem Trabelsi, 15- Germany (4-4-2): 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Arne Friedrich, 21- Brazilian Marcos Paqueta, are approach- Radhi Jaidi, 3-Karim Hagui, 18-David Jemmali; 20- Christoph Metzelder, 17-Per Mertesacker, 16-Philipp ing the tense clash at the Allianz Arena Hamed Namouchi, 12-Joahar Mnari, 14-Adel Chedli, 13- Lahm; 18-Bernd Schneider, 8-Torsten Frings, 13-Michael with some trepidation. Riadh Bouazizi; 5-Ziad Jaziri, 9-Yassine Chikhaoui. Ballack, 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger; 20-Lukas Podolski, 11- Coach: Roger Lemerre. Miroslav Klose. Coach: Juergen Klinsmann. Photo/AP “This is going to be the most impor- Saudi Arabia (4-5-1): 1-Mohamed Al Deayea; 3-Redha Poland (4-5-1 or 4-4-2): 1-Artur Boruc; 6-Jacek Bak, 2- Tunisia’s goal keeper Boumnijel Aliduring catches a ball during his tant and the most difficult match for us,” Tuker, 13-Hussein Sulaimani, 4-Hamad Al Montashari, Mariusz Jop, 14-Michal Zewlakow, 4-Marcin Baszczynski; 2-Ahmed Dokhi; 14-Saud Al Khariri, 7-Mohamed Ameen, 8-Jacek Krzynowek, 21-Ireneusz Jelen (or 16-Arkadiusz said Tunisia’s highly-rated attacking team’s training session in Munich yesterday. Tunisia will play Saudi Ara- right-back Hatem Trabelsi, who is seek- 8-Mohamed Noor, 10-Mohammad Al Shalhoub, 9-Sami Radomski), 10-Miroslaw Szymkowiak, 7-Radoslaw Al Jaber; 20-Yassir Al Qahtani. Coach: Marcos Paqueta. Sobolewski, 15-Euzebiusz Smolarek; 9-Maciej Zurawski. bia in a Group H match today in Munich. The other teams in Group H are ing a move from Ajax Amsterdam after Referee: Mark Shield (Australia), Linesmen: Nathan Coach: Pawel Janas. — Reuters Spain and Ukraine. the finals. “And it is also a derby! “I Gibson (Australia), Ben Wilson (Australia) Socceroos were quite impressive resources available to them, — their or anyone who has followed ANALYSIS sheer physical presence, tenacity and Australia in other sporting con- teamwork. tests like cricket, Monday’s late Apart from the lack of pace that afflicts 3-1 win over Japan after trailing F Jamba at right back, the Angolan for 84 minutes should not be a surprise. Chris defence, which also has Kali, Loco and As one English journalist put it, the Delgado, all big men, stood up well to Aussies never know when they are beat- Tsuma the Portuguese threat and looked espe- en. They have a propensity for digging cially good in the air. themselves out a hole, no matter how Coach Luis Gonclaves knew his back deep, and losing is never an option for four could not afford to wait for Chris- them. In the final of the gold medal bas- ■ Angola beaten but not cowed tiano Ronaldo to run at them and ketball match against New Zealand at After restricting group favourites Portu- assigned a man to mind him. So the the 2006 Commonwealth Games, they gal to just one goal, first-timers Angola Manchester United winger had the huge were six points adrift with less than a should go into their next fixture against frame of Delgado shadowing him every- minute to go but still managed to pull Mexico on Friday with less fear, despite where he went. It is an ugly tactic, but it off a memorable win. the Americans’ authoritative 3-1 win worked perfectly. Ronaldo was hounded In Australia, sports is not a matter of over Iran. It was only 12 seconds into out of the game and finally taken off in life and death, it is more than that. the second Group D match on Sunday the second half. Rohit Brijanath of the Indian sports night when Portuguese striker Pauletta’s Mendonca, Macanga, Figuerido and weekly magazine, Sportstar , has shot from the left rolled perilously close Mateus threw their weight around the described the attitude of Australian to the Angolan far post. midfield and did a good job destroying sport as “combative machismo, eat-pie- Three minutes later, Portugal had the the Portuguese forward play. with-opponent’s-blood-as-sauce”. Be lead, Pauletta with the goal from an Once they find a player who can take afraid! To an Australian sportsman, accurate pull-back from Luis Figo. them forward from the middle, Angola kicking a fallen opponent in the teeth is The expected slaughter of the Angolans can look forward to getting their first very much acceptable. that had been envisaged by many was World Cup goal. They have such a With only Mark Viduka of Middles- underway, or so it seemed. player in Ze Kalanga. He is the closest brough, Tim Cahil (Everton) John Once the Southern Africans had got rid Angola comes to a good ball player. Aloisi (Osasuna) Harry Kewel of Liver- of their jitters, they settled down into Once he gets into his stride well, he pool and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer as their rhythm and matched their former should create openings for Fabrice players of note, Australia were very colonial masters blow-for-blow. Akwa or Pedro Mantorras at the point much the underdogs in this Group F tie Despite their unflattering performances of the Angolan attack. in Kaiserslautern. at the African Cup of Nations, the Cote d’Ivoire deserved to take a point Making only their second appearance in Angolans looked solid enough to resist from Argentina. The two goals they con- the World Cup finals, it was immensely any form of bullying. ceded were not a result of endemic thrilling to see them come storming Lacking any outstanding ball player in defensive frailties but rather from being back from the dead to beat a more expe- the mould of Brazil’s Ronaldinho or caught out in fifty-fifty situations. rienced Japan. Arjen Robben of Holland, who can With their solid defence backed by an Their attitude is one that other teams single-handedly make things happen, unyielding midfield, they carved out could borrow. the Angolans made good use of the little numerous chances of their own..