Confederations Cup Semi-Final 25/06/05
Germany v Brazil 18.00 hrs local time (17.00 hrs BST)

Germany face Brazil tonight in the 1st Semi-final of the Confederations Cup in Nuremburg. Both teams will be looking to win, with this being the re-match of the 2002 World Cup final, which Brazil won 2-0 to lift the trophy.

But Germany will be looking to capitalize on their home advantage, rather than the speculation that the Brazilians poor run of form is due to tiredness within the team.

Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has already stated that his team is tired, but he has been receiving a lot of criticism in his home country's press for being too relaxed with his players.

German coach Jurgen Klinsmann dismissed suggestions that Brazil, with a day less rest after their close-call 2-2 draw against Japan on Wednesday, would be at a disadvantage for the game. "Brazil are going to be so incredibly motivated against us," he said. "If they beat us they will at least be able to see some light at the end of the tunnel. We are not going to even let this 'tired Brazil' stuff near us. They are not tired at all."

"These are all top professionals, they are used to playing every third or fourth day. I don't think the Brazilians will be fretting about us having an extra day to recover once the match begins. They will be electrified when it starts and not be thinking about that at all."

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | google | yahoo | technorati