Germans Don't Underestimate Turkey Test
October 8, 2005
While the rest of the soccer world's hopeful teams do battle for the right to take part in the World Cup in Germany next summer, the host nation will be keeping their own preparations going with a friendly match against Turkey in Istanbul on Saturday.
Despite going into the Turkey game, and the following practice match against China in Hamburg on Wednesday, without skipper and influential midfielder Michael Ballack, Germany will be riding high on the back of some solid performances which saw them take third place in June's Confederations Cup.
The team that coach Jürgen Klinsmann puts out against the Turks, however, will be a very different one from which he would like, prompting many observers to call his possible line-up 'Plan B.'
Midfield maestro out and striking prodigy a doubt
As well as Ballack, Klinsmann is also deprived of his first choice strike partnership for the match with Miroslav Klose out with influenza while Lukas Podolski (photo, left), who scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 win over South Africa, is struggling with a thigh injury.
The playmaker role which Ballack usually commands will be handed to Werder Bremen's Tim Borowski with experienced support in midfield coming from Bernd Schneider and Thorsten Frings.
Oliver Neuville looks set to return to the starting line-up to partner Kevin Kuranyi up front if Podolski fails to recover.
The game against Turkey is very important for us," said assistant German coach Joachim Loew. "We can assume that Turkey will be fully concentrated. They will want to stay focused and be fully prepared for their important qualification game."
Turkey have half an eye on World Cup game
Turkey may be excused for being a little distracted against Germany at the weekend. They play a crunch World Cup qualifier against Albania next week with their hopes of reaching the finals hanging in the balance. A win would see Turkey revive their slim hopes by getting a playoff spot in Group Two behind Ukraine.
Turkey, semi-finalists at the 2002 World Cup, lie second in the group on 20 points. Greece, on 18 points, and Denmark, on 16 points, have two matches remaining and play each other on Saturday.
The Germany game will provide Turkey coach Fatih Terim with the opportunity to assess his returning striker Real Sociedad's Nihat Kahveci who takes his place up-front after injury. He comes straight back into the team as veteran striker Hakan Sukur is suspended and Trabzonspor's Fatih Tekke is injured.
Kahveci may well partner Galatasaray's in-form striker Umit Karan who returns to the squad after a three-year absence.
Coach Terim has made a point of stressing the technical and physical strength of their German opponents to his players.
"The German national side is a team that never loses its discipline. This fixture will be a dress rehearsal ahead of our match against Albania," he said.
Probable teams:
Turkey: Volkan Demirel; Serkan Balci, Alpay Ozalan, Tolga Seyhan, Umit Ozat; Yildiray Basturk, Selcuk Sahin, Emre Belozoglu, Tumer Metin; Nihat Kahveci, Umit Karan
Germany: Oliver Kahn; Patrick Owomoyela, Per Mertesacker, Lukas Sinkiewicz, Marcell Jansen; Bernd Schneider, Tim Borowski, Torsten Frings, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Kevin Kuranyi, Lukas Podolski or Oliver Neuville