Netherlands and Germany will pull no punches

Laden with history, matches between the Netherlands and Germany are always riveting affairs and the respective coaches are expecting both sides to pull no punches when they meet in Petah Tikva for their UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group B opener. Cor Pot said a change of direction at senior level has given his players extra experience while his counterpart in the opposing dugout, Rainer Adrion, has already decided who will start his team's first game in Israel.

Cor Pot, Netherlands coach
When Germany play an open game, then we will return the favour. Our style of play depends on Germany. We know Germany very well and they know us very well because the technology is of such a high standard nowadays, that you can see everything about your opponents on video. There will be no surprises.

We don't talk about Germany's strengths or weaknesses. We talk about our own qualities, that is more important. We have a philosophy in Holland that we always play 4-3-3. You can change that into different systems, but that is the main system we like to play. It is very flexible, though.

Our players are little stars now, perhaps they will be stars in the future. We must not forget that the players who played in the [senior] national team only played two, three, four times. We changed our approach a little bit and have been looking to inject young blood into the senior team. That is the reason why a lot of these players have represented the full side already.

2013 qualifying (including play-off)
P10 W8 D1 L1 F25 A3

Play-off result
Slovakia 0-2 Netherlands
Netherlands 2-0 Slovakia (agg: 4-0)

Team news
Pot said at Wednesday's press conference: "All the players are fit. Nobody is injured and nobody is ill. They are all available."

Rainer Adrion, Germany coach
I expect the match to be played at a very high level. The Netherlands are very optimistic ahead of this EURO, but so are we. I think it will be a very interesting match for the spectators and I heard that a lot of fans are planning to come. We are well prepared and will deliver a good performance.

We won't take a cautious approach. Of course we know that they have great attacking talent at their disposal. They have some good players, capable of using free space by dribbling and making full use of their speed. But during the qualifying campaign we scored a lot of goals and we are always capable of finding the net here as well. Our style of play is an attacking one and we will surely not be pushed back into defence.

I've already decided on my starting XI. We have a very balanced squad and there is a lot of competition in several positions. That enables us to throw on players in the later stages of the match and they are capable of turning it around should we need it. I am content with the responsibility of making some tough decisions [regarding the selection], but a player on the bench isn't necessarily worse than the one who started.

2013 qualifying (including play-off)
P12 W10 D2 L0 F43 A11

Play-off result
Germany 1-1 Switzerland
Switzerland 1-3 Germany (agg: 4-2)

Team news
There were some reports in the German media about Lewis Holtby being doubtful for the match, but the captain gave the all-clear: "No one needs to worry about me," he said during the press conference, meaning coach Adrion has a healthy squad to choose from.

Match fact
The Netherlands are in the finals for the first time since 2007, when they claimed a second successive title on home soil with a 4-1 final defeat of Serbia in Groningen. They had lifted the trophy for the first time with a 3-0 defeat of Ukraine in Portugal 12 months previously.

Did you know?
This will be only the teams' fifth competitive meeting at U21 level and their first in almost 25 years.