World Cup hosts Germany will be in action for the second time on Wednesday when they meet neighbours Poland in an eagerly-anticipated encounter in Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion.

The home country have already established a commanding position in Group A following their thrilling 4-2 victory over Costa Rica, while Poland’s opening game defeat to Ecuador means that only a win will keep Pawel Janas’ side in contention. The Poles will, however, be cheered on by the thousands of fans who continue to stream across the border in great numbers, and may have been encouraged by Germany’s moments of defensive fragility against the Costa Ricans.

On the back of that 4-2 win over Costa Rica in the Opening Match, confidence levels are high in the German camp. Victory against Poland would surely see Jurgen Klinsmann’s team safely through to the last 16 and the three-time champions have been boosted by the news that captain Michael Ballack should be fit to play after missing the win over the Ticos with a calf injury. Poland, on the other hand, suffered a demoralising 2-0 defeat to Ecuador and another defeat would ensure that they make another early exit.

Germany and Poland have met on 14 occasions, with the Mannschaft yet to taste defeat, having racked up an impressive 26 goals and conceded just seven en route to recording ten wins and four draws. The teams have also already faced each other twice at the FIFA World Cup finals.

At West Germany 1974, the host nation beat Poland 1-0 in the semi-final, while four years later in Argentina the teams drew 0-0 in a group match. Germany and Poland last met on 4 September 1996 in the Polish town of Zabrze, when goals from Oliver Bierhoff and the current manager, Klinsmann enough to see them through 2-0.

The battle between the German defenders and the Polish strikers should be a good one. The free-scoring host nation reported no attacking problems against Costa Rica, but at times they looked a little nervous in defence.

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FIFA World Cup Tips: This game to end in a 2-2 DRAW.

Related: FIFA World Cup Betting Tips, World Cup Picks, World Cup Soccer Stories and Rumors

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 14th, 2006 at 7:58 am and is filed under 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2010 World Cup Betting Tips and Picks, Germany, Poland, Soccer News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.