No worries for Völler
Saturday, June 5, 2004
Article summary
Rudi Völler will have all 23 Germany players at his disposal for their final friendly against Hungary.
Article body
Rudi Völler will have all 23 players in Germany's UEFA EURO 2004™ squad at his disposal for their final pre-tournament friendly against Hungary on Sunday.
Amsterdam trip
It seems the German coach already has his sights set on the fixtures which lie in store, skipping the squad's final training session ahead of the Kaiserslautern friendly in order to watch the game between the Republic of Ireland and Germany's Group D rivals the Netherlands in Amsterdam. "I want to watch the Netherlands again myself before we take them on in our first group match," Völler explained.
Bobic back
With the German coach absent, assistant Michael Skibbe was left in charge of training in the Fritz-Walter-Stadion and the former BV Borussia Dortmund coach was able to put Fredi Bobic through his paces after he returned from minor back and a thigh problems. "Fredi is fit and can play," said Skibbe on Saturday. However, in all probability, the Hertha BSC Berlin striker will be rested.
Podolski chance
That could lead to youngster Lukas Podolski being handed his international debut. Völler has labelled the striker, who turned 19 on Friday, as his "secret weapon" but said: "I don't think he will make the starting lineup." One man that is sure to feature is Miroslav Klose, who will leave 1. FC Kaiserslautern to join SV Werder Bremen after EURO 2004™. "We want to give him the chance to say farewell to his fans here," explained Skibbe. "But we haven't decided on our two strikers for Portugal yet."
Midfield switches
Christian Wörns and Jens Nowotny are certain of their places in central defence with Philipp Lahm and Arne Friedrich defending out wide. In midfield Germany could make two changes from the side that defeated Switzerland. Torsten Frings is the favourite to replace Frank Baumann and if Völler and Skibbe decide to rest Bernd Schneider, Andreas Hinkel is likely to get the nod.
Matthäus stretched
Hungary coach Lothar Matthäus, Germany's most capped player of all time with 150 international appearances to his name, will have to look to inexperienced youngsters. No less than 22 players pulled out of the match and Matthäus said: "My players are here to learn." Germany will be looking to provide some valuable lessons.
