By Kevin Fylan
FRANKFURT, June 2 - Germany will be wary of a
Poland side with fond memories of the last World Cup held in
these parts but the hosts have little to fear from their other
Group A rivals Costa Rica and Ecuador.
Germany have clearly improved since Juergen Klinsmann
replaced Rudi Voeller as coach in the wake of a sub-standard
Euro 2004 display.
How close they are to challenging for a fourth World Cup
success is hard to tell.
As hosts, the Germans qualified automatically and their only
competitive football in the last two years has been the
Confederations Cup in 2005, when they went out to an outstanding
Brazil side in the semi-finals.
Germans recognise they often get the luck of the draw and
the 2006 World Cup has been no exception.
Poland, Costa Rica and Ecuador all went out in the first
round of the last World Cup in South Korea and Japan, while the
Germans reached the final for the seventh time, losing 2-0 to
Brazil.
Klinsmann's side will play the opening match against Costa
Rica at the Allianz Arena in Munich on June 9 and it will be a
huge surprise if they don't win.
It's true Germany are over-reliant on Michael Ballack but
home advantage should surely steer them home against Costa Rica,
whose main aim will be to match their achievement of reaching
the second round on debut in 1990.
Germany's second game, against Poland in Dortmund on June
14, may well decide which of the two European teams will go
through as group winners.
Poland enjoyed an excellent World Cup run the last time the
tournament was held on German soil in 1974, only missing out on
a place in the final when they were beaten 4-2 by the hosts in
the decisive match of the second group phase.
It would be stretching it a bit to describe the current
group of players as comprising a second golden age for Poland,
who were ranked fifth in 1978 and were semi-finalists in 1982.
They clearly have potential, though, and in Borussia
Dortmund's Euzebiusz Smolarek, son of the great Wlodzimierz
Smolarek, they have a technically gifted midfielder who will
relish playing in Germany.
Germany close out the first phase with a game against
Ecuador at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Ecuador didn't impress much in their first appearance in the
finals four years ago and there remain suspicions that they only
manage to qualify via the advantage of playing their home games
at 2,800 metres above sea level in Quito.
Winning the group is important, with the runners-up likely
to have to face England in the second round.