It’s been a case of so far so good for both Germany and Turkey in Euro 2012 qualification to date, but at least one side will lose their perfect record when the countries do battle in Berlin on Friday evening.
After reaching the World Cup semi-final final with an exceptionally young team, there is pressure on Joachim Loew’s side not just to reach the finals, but to actually claim the competition. They’ve started in the right manner, edging past Belgium 1-0 on their travels and dispatching Azerbaijan 6-1 at home, but this forthcoming fixture is not so obvious.
Once again Loew’s squad will be formed largely around a strong contingent from domestic champions Bayern Munich, but die Roten’s form has been poor this season and there are very real worries that this could finally spill over to effect die Mannschaft.
Evidently, the coach does not buy such talk. “Their disappointing form at club level doesn't worry me,” he affirmed to the media, doubtless considering the case of Miroslav Klose, who was so poor for FCB last term but who rose to the occasion with the national team in South Africa. “It is something I had expected. The players have had an incredible World Cup and some of them are showing they have lost a bit of strength. That is normal.”
Loew has formed an exciting squad and a unit good enough to shrug off questionable club form when required on the big occasion, and with this widely considered to be Germany’s pivotal game in qualifying, expect to see die Mannschaft produce another strong performance to earn a positive result.
Thinking Of A Surprise
Like Germany, Turkey have made an excellent start in their quest to reach Poland and Ukraine in the summer of 2012. The Crescent Stars will ideally seek first place and an automatic spot in the European Championships, but at the very least they must go for second and a likely spot in the play-offs.
Kazakhstan and Belgium are also the sides previously seen off by the Turks, who claimed a 3-0 win in Astana before hosting les Diable Rouge, who took the lead before eventually succumbing 3-2 in a dramatic encounter.
Turkey may not have been as impressive as their opponents, but that has not stopped Halil Altintop talking up their chances of three points in Munich.
“It will not be an easy game, but we could surprise Germany,” the Eintracht Frankfurt forward told SPOX in the lead up to the game.
A proud side lead by the vastly experienced Guus Hiddink, Turkey will be going out for revenge following their dramatic 3-2 loss to die Mannschaft in the semi-final of Euro 2008, which they have never really recovered from.
TEAM NEWS
Germany
A host of players have been forced to pull out of Joachim Loew’s squad, with perhaps the most notable absentee Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Philipp Lahm remains the captain as Michael Ballack is out injured, while striker Stefan Kiessling is another player not fit enough to feature.
Youngster Kevin Grosskreutz is also absent, though there is hope the left-winger could return for the midweek encounter against Kazakhstan.
Turkey
Fenerbahce’s Selcuk Sahin was named in the initial squad but has since pulled out due to injury. There remains a squad of 26 players, 21 of whom are domestically based.
Prediction
The German forwards may not be in especially good form, and Turkey may be a side too easily underestimated, but this should be a home victory. Though young, die Mannschaft have a very complete an exciting squad, and with surprising depth in just about every area of the field they should have enough to claim three important points en route to Euro 2012.
Germany 2-1 Turkey 
