Portugal v. Germany

It’s looking like it’s going to be an all out bloodbath to rival the Battle of the Lys. The Germanic peoples, with their pretzels and their lederhosen will be going head to head with the economic power house of the western area of the Iberian peninsula. Black coffee will feed the Portuguese wrath against the superior German engineering in what should be the most exciting way to spend your leisure time:

If Germany are to make progress towards what would be a fourth European Championship they will need their forwards to show greater sharpness in front of goal, while the defence keeps the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo under close watch.

Germany’s last meeting with Portugal in the European Championship was a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the group phase in 2000 but they did get a measure of revenge with a 3-1 victory in the third-placed match at the last World Cup.

Bastian Schweinsteiger scored twice in that game and Loew hinted that the midfielder would be in the starting line-up on Thursday, after sitting out the Austria game through suspension.

The hope in the German camp is that Portugal will play a more adventurous game than any of their previous opponents, thus giving them the chance to attack on the break.

That seems a safe bet, with Portugal’s forwards looking a constant danger in their two wins, 2-0 against Turkey and 3-1 over the Czechs.

“We have had two very good second halves,” said Scolari, who is likely to field the same team that started the first two games. “Principally we have played football. We’ve worked with the ball. That is our quality.”

With Portugal determined to play the ball around and Germany eager to launch swift breaks, it has the makings of an excellent match, with the Portuguese looking slight favourites*.

The last time these two peoples entered a conflict on opposite sides and meant business 8,000 Portuguese died. Is it time for Portugal to exact their revenge?

h/t JT
*Emphasis mine