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Coaches anticipate Vienna thriller
by Andrew Haslam from Vienna
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Germany and Spain are competing for honours
(¿UEFA)
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Germany coach Joachim Low and his Spain counterpart Luis
Aragones are both hoping UEFA EURO 2008T will come to a suitably exciting
conclusion as their sides prepare to meet in the final this evening.
'Intensive match'
The first 30 games of the tournament have yielded 76 goals, and the coaches
are optimistic that pattern will continue at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion.
Germany's Joachim Low - whose side won 3-2 in both the quarter- and semi-finals
against Portugal and Turkey respectively and are looking for their fourth
European title - is anticipating an open encounter. "It's going to
be a very intensive match," he said. "Both Spain and Germany
have good players and like to go forward so it's going to be very interesting.
We tried to make certain corrections after we lost to Croatia [in the
group stage], but when we're against a team who play attacking football
we can reach that level and keep up. Technically speaking, both teams
have strong offensive players. It will be a fast, flexible and variable
match."
'Long hard road'
German hopes would be damaged by the absence of Michael Ballack, who has
missed training for the last two days due to a calf problem, while Thorsten
Frings should replace Simon Rolfes in midfield. Despite the doubts surrounding
the participation of his captain, Low is in bullish mood, confidently
proclaiming: "I expect to win, of course. We have a long, hard road
behind us over the past few weeks. This tournament was tough for all players
and all teams, it took up a lot of strength but now we're in the final
and we're going to gather all our efforts to win and take the cup back
to Germany."
Contrasting fortunes
While Germany are familiar faces at this level - this is their sixth European
showpiece and four of Low's squad appeared in the 2002 FIFA World Cup
final - for Spain this is unchartered territory. La Furia Roja's last
appearance in a major final was 24 years ago, a 2-0 EURO defeat by France,
and their sole silverware came in the 1964 UEFA European Championship,
yet if their coach is feeling weighed down by history he was not inclined
to admit as much. "I'm fine, the players are fine," said Aragones.
"My greatest concern is my team. Germany are very strong, and their
set-pieces are very dangerous. We know they don't have such a flowing
game as us but they counterattack with speed and we need to learn how
to stop that. It might be of concern to me, but I'm sure Germany are concerned
the football we play with the ball on the ground could cause them problems."
Winning farewell
In the absence of the tournament's four-goal top scorer David Villa due
to a thigh injury, Aragones - who will step down after the match - is
expected to stick with the five-man midfield that functioned so effectively
in Thursday's 3-0 semi-final win, against Russia, deploying Cesc Fabregas
behind lone striker Fernando Torres. "We'll be able to get into the
area less but will be stronger in midfield," he explained. "I
haven't decided anything yet, perhaps we'll have two forwards. Every team
needs a good atmosphere. I've seen great teams with great players and
if you don't have a good atmosphere you can't win. This is what's brought
us to the final. Let's just hope we play well and win."
Euro2008.com,
29 June 2008
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