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Spain Vie for Euro Cup with Germany

Written by Adeleke Afolayan

Sunday, 29 June 2008

The European Championship would reach a crescendo later tonight when pre-tournament favourites Spain and Germany clash in the final at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Spain sole victory came in 1964 while Germany have won three times, the last win coming in 1996.

Spain go into the final unbeaten in the Championship, winning all their games in regulation time except the quarterfinal match with Italy which was decided on penalties.

Germany on the otherhand have lost one match, against Croatia in the group stage, and come into the final on the back of four goals conceded in two games; though they have scored six in that run.

Against an attack minded Spain, the German defence may just cave in to pressure and let their guards down. Germany's defensive lapses were very evident in the semi-final against Turkey who had more scoring chances; twice hitting the bar.

Spain however will likely be without the Championship's top scorer David Villa, who injured himself against Russia in the semi-final, leaving either of Daniel Guiza or Cesc Fabregas with a starting place against Germany depending on the formation employed by coach Luis Aragones.

Fabregas particularly has impressed despite coming on as a substitute in all of Spain's matches, especially in the semi-final where he created two of the three goals and looks set to start tonight as a second striker behind Fernando Torres.

For Germany, the team would have coach Joachim Loew back on the bench after serving his touchline ban against Turkey, otherwise the whole team is available for selection, execpt for skipper Michael Ballack who has not trained since Friday.

The Germans have shown much potential upfront with Lukas Podolski perhaps their best performing player, scoring three goals so far and creating as many despite playing out of position on the wings.

However, the defence has been guilty of some slackness throughout the Championship, except against Poland in the first group match, and Loew must find a way of shoring up his backline or bear the brunt of the Spanish attack.

With an unbeaten run of 21 matches, Spain will be favourites to lift the European Championship Cup and end many years of underachievement which has cursed the abundant talent in previous outings.

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Last Updated ( Monday, 30 June 2008 )

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