Germany v Poland, Thursday June 16
St Denis, Live on ITV, 8pm
Germany meet Poland on Thursday night at the Stade de France (8pm ITV) knowing that a victory for either side will secure their place in the Round of 16.
Germany – the story so far
German boss, and serial bollock scratch n’ sniffer Joachim Low would have been delighted to see his side come away from their match against Ukraine with a 2-0 victory. At times the German defence was put under real pressure and only Jerome Boateng’s brilliant goalline clearance maintained the German’s slender lead. The fact that Germany overcame these challenges and still walked away with a clean sheet and 2 goals bodes well for die Mannschaft.
In addition to having the stinkiest fingers in all of France Joachim Low also has a wealth of attacking talent at his disposal. Though not blessed with an out and out goalscorer in their squad, what the Germans do have is an abundance of brilliant midfielders: Mario Gotze, Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller and the outstanding Toni Kroos. In qualification these two teams met twice, both winning a game a piece. They clearly know each other’s games very well and we could see a stalemate in St Denis.
Poland – the story so far
Poland weren’t massively tested in their opening match against Northern Ireland and it would have been frustrating for their players that they weren’t able to add more goals to Arkadiusz Milik’s second half strike. Defensively they had little to do during the game, however they may need to make a changes at the back following an injury to Wojciech Szczesny.
Any side featuring Robert Lewandowski, who scored 13 goals in qualifying, is always going to pose an attacking threat, and the Germans will know better than anyone what he is capable of. Whether the German defence’s familiarity with the big striker will blunt his overall threat remains to be seen, but when presented with a half chance or a one-on-one situation there are few strikers in the world who you’d pick ahead of the Polish captain.
I have a feeling that this match will be a downbeat, uneventful affair. By the time it kicks off both teams will know the result of the earlier match in their group and it seems entirely plausible that they will play out a draw which would suit both team’s chances of progressing.
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