It seems like the Germans are happy with the results of the 2nd quarterfinals game played yesterday between Turkey and Croatia. 3 players of the Turkey team will be suspended in the semifinals following yellow cards they picked up in the quarterfinals. Turkey has a host of other players who are out injured as well so Germany will be once again regarded as the favorites in their upcoming semifinal encounter with Turkey.

Read more about defender Arne Friedrich's thoughts about the game.>>

Germany hope their plan to neutralise Cristiano Ronaldo when they take on Portugal in today's quarter-final in Basle does not backfire.

Joachim Low's side, who have progressed to the last eight of the European Championships for the first time since 1996, know their chances of reaching the semi-finals depend on whether they can stop the Manchester United winger. "We have a special plan but I cannot reveal anything," said Oliver Bierhoff, former Germany striker and current national team general manager.

Ronaldo, who won the European Golden Shoe after becoming the continent's top scorer this season, will lead Portugal at the St Jakob-Park Stadium. The 23-year-old made sure his team qualified for the quarter-finals as Group A winners having scored one goal and set up two more in their 3-1 triumph against the Czech Republic. To make matters worse for Germany, Ronaldo was rested in Portugal's last group game and will be eager to add to his tally.

"Ronaldo is the best player in the world," admitted Bierhoff. "You can never stop him for 90 minutes even though you can ask defenders and midfielders to keep a close eye on him. We can't expect one or two players to stop him so it has to be the group as a whole that needs to confront him."

However, Bierhoff admitted the Ronaldo factor could pose a dilemma to his players as focusing too much on the United winger could cost his team dearly. "The problem with Portugal is that they also have other top players," said Bierhoff. "They have a great team and have an experienced coach in Luiz Felipe Scolari. They will be tough opponents but we are ready." Germany, who will be without their coach Low as he will undergo a one-match touchline ban, must step up their game if they wish to keep their European dreams alive, according to Bierhoff.

Having lost 2-1 to Croatia, the Germans were made to suffer against Austria in their last group game before being rescued by a stunning Michael Ballack free-kick that earned them a 1-0 triumph and a second-place finish in their group.

"There's no doubt that we have to play better than in our last two games," admitted Bierhoff. "We showed in qualifying that we can play very good and beat the best teams but just need to prove it against a very good side. Portugal are favourites but Germany plays better when facing top teams."

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings took part in his country's final training session before they travel to Basel for their quarter-final match against Portugal despite a broken rib – but forward Lukas Podolski was not risked.

Frings, 31, suffered the rib injury during Germany's 1-0 win against Austria on Monday and looked relatively comfortable in training, although he did not get involved in any tackling. Team manager Oliver Bierhoff said: "Torsten really wants to play, which is not normal with a broken rib as it is a very painful injury. Our medical department are doing everything in their power to give him the chance to play on Thursday. It is possible he will play under a local anaesthetic."

The 23-year-old Podolski, who scored three goals during the group stage, has been troubled by a calf problem and went through a special routine rather than join in the team session. "The situation with him has improved vastly but we still cannot say whether he will play," Bierhoff added.

Germany captain Michael Ballack insisted Sunday he is totally focused on the task at hand as his side look to make up for their Euro 2008 defeat by Croatia last week by beating Austria on Monday in Vienna in their final group match to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Ballack said his side are determined to beat Austria. "I am not irritated," responded the ex-Bayern Munich midfielder when asked about his mood. "What I try to do is understand why we did not play to our best level against Croatia."

In the aftermath of the Croatian match, Germany coach Joachim Löw had promised an improved performance.

Ballack flew with the team to Vienna for Monday's game where a win or draw will book Germany's quarter-final place to face Portugal in Basel on Thursday. "If we show the same qualities that we have regularly for the last two years, we shall leave the ground as a winner", Ballack said with optimism.

"Conditions here have been excellent. I am satisfied with our preparations for the tournament", said Germany's coach Joachim Löw just prior to his team's first appearance at Euro 2008, a Group B match against Poland. The team has stayed at Ascona in Switzerland since June 2, following a ten-day camp at Mallorca. On Saturday, a charter will carry Löw and his squad to the smallest Austrian host city Klagenfurt, where they are scheduled to meet Poland on Sunday.

"Everybody feels reliefed that the tournament is about to begin, but we face a severe challenge", said Löw. "There is no warm-up lap at a European Championship. We expect a very tough game against Poland", said Löw. His assistant Hans-Dieter Flick pointed out, that the Polish team, coached by Leo Beenhakker, has many Dutch attributes: "They are a physical and disciplined team."

With the exception of Tim Borowski, who is weakened by the flu, every player on the 23-player roster reported healthy for Sunday's game. "Miroslav Klose has made great strides these last few days. The same can be said about Christoph Metzelder and Mario Gomez", said Löw, who praised Poland's team: "They mastered the qualifying round with ease, and they have matured visibly due to the coaching of Leo Beenhakker. It will be a great game on Sunday."

"We have a solid team and we have known each other for a while", said Michael Ballack. The 31-year old captain is determined to end a long run of mediocrity at Euro. The team has not won a game at the European Championship since the final in 1996. On the other hand, in 15 games Poland has yet to register a win against Germany.

Jürgen Klinsmann, who coached Germany at the 2006 World Cup, sent staff and players a text message with his best wishes.

Captain Michael Ballack believes his experience of playing in the English Premier League will help him have a successful Euro 2008 campaign. The Chelsea midfielder hit peak form during the second half of the last season, finally showing his strength after 18 months of injuries and poor form.

He is now hoping to carry his form to Switzerland, where Germany are preparing to face Poland in their opening match on Sunday. 'The Premier League has certainly improved me as a footballer and I have received a lot of praise in the last few weeks,' said Ballack. 'I think after my injury, I found some good form and I'm happy to be playing in such a strong league which demands so much from you and puts you under pressure every weekend. Great football is played there and I think everybody takes that with them into the national team.'

As for Germany's chances, the 31-year-old believes this year's European Championships could be the toughest ever and says every player must be in peak condition. He also tipped young Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez to make an impact. 'At such a tournament, and it will be the most intense of all, you can only have success if you are fully fit,' Ballack said. 'It will be the hardest Euros of all time. The German surprise could me Mario Gomez, if he plays. He has great ability and a lot of potential.'

Asked what Germany's strengths would be in Austria and Switzerland, Ballack replied: 'Our fight, our discipline, our desire - all that makes us a tournament team. And the other teams have respect for that. I think we are a good team, we are settled into a system and have our style in which everybody brings their own experience from abroad with them.'

Ballack and Torsten Frings will be pulling the strings in midfield but who will play either side of them remains a mystery. Striker Lukas Podolski has been used out of position on the left wing, while Clemens Fritz appears to have overtaken Bastian Schweinsteiger as first choice for the right wing.

David Odonkor, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Tim Borowski are also candidates and the decision will be made by coach Joachim Low tomorrow evening in a training session closed to media and fans. 'The players know full well that the fans are excited, but they also know that training sessions are not always for the public and this is quite normal,' explained Ballack. We also need to relax to prepare and study things that the opponents should not know about.'

The Chelsea star also revealed he and his team-mates had not been paying attention to the press, particularly the Polish tabloid which depicted Ballack and Low with decapitated heads. 'I have never had any problems with Poland, but we are only concentrating on ourselves anyway,' he added.

Ballack also says he 'gets calmer every tournament' as he looks forward to Germany's Euro 2008 opener against Poland with a cool head. He is playing his fifth major tournament, having appeared in the last two World Cups and European Championships, and knows such experience will be vital as Germany's Group B campaign begins in Klagenfurt on Sunday. 'I get calmer with every tournament,' he said. 'I now know what needs to be done, but of course a Euro or a World Cup is still the biggest thing for a footballer. As soon as the first game starts, the tension increases.

The statistics look good for Germany in their face off against Poland. They are undefeated in 15 meetings with their neighbours – a run comprising eleven victories and four draws. 'We want to continue this streak,' said Ballack, whose side have not won a match at a Euro finals since beating the Czech Republic 2-1 in the Euro 96 final. 'The form and standard of the team give me cause for optimism. We had a good World Cup in 2006 and have no fear. We can beat anybody and are not here to win just one game.'

Germany's Lukas Podolski could play on the left-hand side of midfield at Euro 2008 rather than his normal position as a striker. The Bayern Munich plaer impressed coach Joachim Low with his display on the left in Germany's friendly win over Serbia at the weekend.

Podolski's deployment in a wide-midfield role would allow Low to partner first-choice Miroslav Klose with Stuttgart's Mario Gomez in attack. Former Cologne striker Podolski has struggled to find the net since joining Bayern, while Gomez hit 19 Bundesliga goals last season. However, Podolski has the upper hand in terms of experience, having been part of the team for both Euro 2004 as well as the 2006 World Cup. This has put Low in a tough position on deciding whether Gomez or Podolski gets to play. Deploying Podolski in midfield might be the compromise that Low is looking for.

Low told Munich-based newspaper TZ: 'Lukas' outing in this position pleased me most of all against Serbia. Normally he is a striker, but he can also come from midfield. The possibility of playing Lukas on the left-hand side from the beginning or switching him there during the game is certainly an option.'

The 22-year-old may be in line for a change of club as well as position. Fans of newly-promoted Bundesliga side Cologne are banding together in a bid to bring him back to the club. Podolski was brought up through the Cologne youth system and made the breakthrough into the Germany team while on their books thanks to his record of 46 goals in 81 games.

His struggles at Bayern this season have alerted the Cologne faithful, with a group of several hundred now hoping they can fund a transfer. 'We want to do something for Cologne and this is a serious issue,' explained organiser Michael Breitkopf in the Kolner Express newspaper.
'Cologne has millions of fans so if, theoretically speaking, everybody gave 10 euros, we would soon have Poldi back here. At the start of next week we are going to open up a bank account for donations.'

Breitkopf and the fans want to save Podolski from what they see as a miserable situation with Bayern, where Klose and Luca Toni are regularly picked ahead of him. 'We cannot just sit and watch how he is wasting away with Bayern,' added Breitkopf.

Germany defender Christoph Metzelder insists he will be more firmly established at Euro 2008 after admitting his current form is not good enough. The Real Madrid defender Metzelder was named in Joachim Low's 23-man squad for the summer showpiece in Austria and Switzerland even though he missed four months of the Primera Liga season with a foot injury.

He has looked short of match practice in Germany's last two warm-up friendlies - a 2-2 draw with Belarus and a 2-1 win over Serbia on Saturday - but is confident he will improve with more time on the training field.

'I have always been criticised before tournaments, but then become firmly established during the finals and things are going in the same direction this time,' said Metzelder, who admitted he was at fault for Serbia's goal on Saturday in Gelsenkirchen. 'The goal we conceded was my error. I made the wrong decision there. My performance has improved, but it is still not good enough.'

Despite his shaky form, former Borussia Dortmund stopper Metzelder is likely to be a part of Low's first choice XI when Germany get their Euro 2008 campaign up and running against Poland on June 8.

Former Germany number one Oliver Kahn has challenged Jens Lehmann's claim that the Euro 2008 ball deviates in the air.

Lehmann has admitted he is struggling to adjust to the flight of the new ball after conceding two soft goals in Germany's surprise 2-2 with Belarus on Tuesday. The former Arsenal goalkeeper, who hardly featured for the London club last season, feels he needs more time to get used to the movement of the ball.

But Kahn, Lehmann's rival for the number one spot leading up to the 2006 World Cup, insists that there is no problem with the ball. The former Bayern Munich keeper, who retired at the end of this season, told the Bild newspaper: 'At Bayern Munich we played all of our home games in the second half of the season with the this Euro ball. And I have to say, it is clearly better than its predecessors.' He added: 'It is covered on the outside with minute bumps. They provide the goalkeepers with a firmness of grip. I also cannot say for sure that the ball deviates in flight if the wind suddenly turns. But the ball is of course seriously quick - an advantage for the attackers.'

Germany's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has admitted that he is struggling to adjust to the new ball that will be used at Euro 2008. The official Euro 2008 ball, dubbed the Europass, is made by Adidas and has a new surface structure which the makers say creates greater swerve.



The 14-panels of the Europass have been joined together using Adidas' revolutionary Thermal Bonding Technology, which - along with the unique PSC-Texture surface structure - is supposed to ensure exceptional ball control, greater power transmission, swerve and accuracy, in all types of weather.

Lehmann's performance in Tuesday's friendly with Belarus was widely criticized as Germany let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2. Lehmann, who has scarcely featured for his club this season, conceded twice in the last 30 minutes to Vitali Bulyga to once again raise questions over his suitability as the number one keeper for Germany in Austria and Switzerland.

And Lehmann revealed this week that he was finding the movement of the new ball difficult to cope with. Speaking to Kicker magazine, he said: 'The ball is very difficult for me. I only trained with it for the first time a week ago. It is once again different to the ones before it. I had a situation in the first half (against Belarus) where I wanted to hold on to the ball - and then it started to move around. I hope in the coming days, when also my freshness will come back, that I then have a bit of time for a lot of shot training in order to get more familiar with the ball.'

Low admitted Lehmann is still short of match practice, but claimed he had no intention of dropping him. He told the German FA's official website: 'You can sense that he needs games. He will definitely play in goal against Serbia on Saturday. We still trust him.' The Germany coach has included Hannover's Robert Enke and uncapped Bayer Leverkusen youngster Rene Adler as the other two goalkeepers on his squad.

Lehmann has not been the only goalkeeper to have complained about the new ball. The two goalkeepers on Italy's Euro 2008 squad, Gianluigi Buffon and Marco Amelia, have also spoken out against the ball, with Amerlia calling the flight of the ball "erratic". The build-up to big tournaments is often dominated by goalkeepers worrying about new balls, which are brought out especially for the events.

Edit: Here's an interesting video about how the Europass ball is made.

Germany squandered a two-goal lead to draw against Belarus in their penultimate Euro 2008 warm-up friendly on Tuesday evening. The result leaves coach Joachim Low with much to think about as he still has to make his final squad selection of 23 players, out of the 26 he has currently chosen, for Austria and Switzerland by midday on Wednesday.

Miroslav Klose, a player guaranteed to make the final cut, put Germany ahead in the 10th minute while an own goal from Vladimir Korytko doubled their advantage 10 minutes later. Vitali Bulyga got one back after an hour and managed to grab an equaliser for battling Belarus two minutes from the end.

Low gave David Odonkor his first start since October in a midfield that also included captain Michael Ballack, who had just joined up with the team on Monday. Bayern Munich pair Klose and Lukas Podolski formed the attack with Mario Gomez left back at training camp in Mallorca due to a calf problem, while Real Madrid's Christoph Metzelder gained match practice at centre-back and Thomas Hitzlsperger slotted in at left-back.

And it did not take long for Low's new-look team to settle as Klose opened the scoring early on. Klose looked marginally offside when he received the ball from Podolski but kept his cool to round Belarus goalkeeper Vasili Khomutovski and tap home.

There was no doubt over the legitimacy of Germany's second goal as Korytko fired through his own net from Odonkor's teasing cross. Germany continued to dominate possession with Ballack pulling the strings at the heart of the midfield and almost setting up Klose for a third after 30 minutes.

Low gave Borussia Monchengladbach winger Marko Marin his debut at the start of the second half while Jermaine Jones was also given 45 minutes to prove himself, replacing Ballack at the restart. Jones came close to scoring his first international goal five minutes after entering the fray but his shot from the edge of the area was deflected just wide of the post.

Belarus narrowed the gap after an hour when Bulyga's shot from just inside the penalty area found the back of net despite the best efforts of Jens Lehmann.

Marin showed off some of his skills to dribble past three Belarus defenders and earn Germany a free-kick which Piotr Trochowski curled just side of the post as the home side looked to hit back immediately.

But it was Belarus who had the final laugh through the lively Bulyga, who showed up Metzelder's lack of fitness by outstripping the Madrid man on the edge of the area and firing a low shot beyond Lehmann which the goalkeeper will feel he might have kept out.

Germany will complete their warm-up programme on Saturday (31st May) against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. They open their UEFA EURO 2008™ Group B bid against Poland in Klagenfurt on 8 June before facing Croatia there four days later. They then visit Vienna to take on co-hosts Austria on 16 June in their final group match.

Michael Ballack joined the German national team on Monday. The Captain arrived at the Homburger Waldstadion five days after he and the FC Chelsea had lost the Champions League final against Manchester United in Moscow (5-6 after penalties).

In Homburg, Ballack met his teammates, which arrived from a pre-tournament training camp on the island of Mallorca. The 31-year-old midfielder flew in directly from London.

"I am delighted to be back among the squad, I am really impatient for the tournament to begin", said Ballack, who was welcomed by several hundred fans in front of the stadium. He took some time to sign autographs as did several other players of the team, much to the delight of the waiting crowd. Asked for his feelings after the lost final he said: "I had a few days to rest, now I look forward to the tournament."

Drizzle and unseasonably cold temperatures around 16 degrees Celsius greeted Joachim Löw and his players as the German team arrived on Mallorca. The plane landed at 5.32 P.M. on Monday. It marked the beginning of the final countdown for the EURO 2008. In 19 days, Germany will be facing Poland in their tournament opener.

“It’s about time. I look forward to practicing with my players. Hopefully we can get through this final preparation phase without any injuries”, said Löw on Monday.

The team headed for the Mallorca team hotel, the Arabella Sheraton Golf, where eight camera teams and roughly 50 fans eagerly awaited their arrival. Hotel personnel lined-up in a cordon, while a huge welcome sign greeted the 24 players. Löw has nominated 26 players, with Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid) and Michael Ballack (Chelsea) expected to join the team later. The team will stay on the Balearic island until May 30.

Rest and relaxation is Löw’s priority for the first few days. Following a demanding season, players should first focus on getting adequate rest. Many German national players were joined by their wives and girlfriends for the initial phase of camp. “Starting end of the week, we’ll start practicing twice a day. Players should expect long days. Even though we give them a moment to catch their breath first, we have no time to waste.”

Every minute of the preparation leading up to the June 8 match against Poland in Klagenfurt has been meticulously planned. The operational manual alone covers 103 pages. Even the salt content of the swimming pool has been checked and modified.

Time is of the essence, as the team has five days less to get into shape compared to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. “We had to tighten the agenda”, said the team’s manager Oliver Bierhoff. The team will practice in the Estadio Son Moix, usually the home turf for Real Mallorca. Practice fields were prepared days ago. Recreational areas have been set-up in the hotel, so that players can get together in their off hours, instead of spending the entire leisure time in their own rooms. “Conditions are superb”, said Löw, who has nominated two debutants for the preliminary roster. 19-year old Marko Marin (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Bayer Leverkusen’s René Adler have not played for Germany before.

Each player received an individualized practice agenda at their arrival. Löw also stressed some rules of behavior, such as “discipline, respect, punctuality and a communicative attitude”. “We want players that are leaders, that take responsibility, who can admit that they made a mistake and who show comradeship even in the face of failure.”