Watch Germany vs Poland Live Online - Euro 2008
Poland coach Leo Beenhakker believes his team are ready to rewrite the record books in their first match in the European finals when they face one of the UEFA EURO 2008™ big guns, Germany, in Klagenfurt on Sunday.
Neuville winner
The Dutchman is confident ahead of the Group B encounter at Wörthersee Stadion, despite the fact that Poland have never before qualified for the UEFA European Championship, nor beaten their western neighbours in any of their previous 15 meetings. They last faced each other at the 2006 FIFA World Cup – when Beenhakker was coaching Trinidad & Tobago – and the eventual semifinalists Germany got the better of the contest in Dortmund, as substitute Oliver Neuville scored the winner in added time to give the tournament hosts a 1-0 victory.
History lesson
In an entertaining and colourful pre-match press conference, Beenhakker said: "I know that have never won against Germany, but what we can also say about history is that the two teams have never met each other in this tournament. We know that in 1996 Germany were champions, but since then they have not won any matches at all in the EURO finals. We're talking about history, and I did my homework."
Nothing changes
Beenhakker, who lost third-choice goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak and midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski to injury in the build-up to the finals, said: "We will have our usual preparation, like we did for the qualifying matches. We won't be doing different things just because we are at the EUROs now, and it's not like we will walk around the park naked or something. We have our normal programme – and then we will go [singing] tra-la-la to the stadium. We will play 'tra-la-la' but I don't know if we will be still 'tra-la-la' after the game."
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