Germany's head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is expected to start the team with a 4 - 4 - 2 formation and with Tim Borowski to replace injured German captain & newly signed Chelsea FC midfielder Michael Ballack.

Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes warned that his team will drop it's "nice guy" approach and play offensive football in the opening match, with Costa Rica's new style of football.

Germany are expected to start the match with a 4 - 4 - 2 formation, with Tim Borowski probably replacing the injured captain Michael Ballack. Arsenal FC's Jens Lehmann will be guarding the German nets, replacing the veteran Oliver Kahn.

Arne Friedrich, Per Metesacker, Christoph Metzelder and Philipp Lahm will be charged with stopping Costa Rica's dangerous forwards Alvaro Saborio and Paulo Wanchope.

Bernd Schneider, Torsten Frings and Bastian Schweinsteiger together with Tim Borowski will play in the midfield, trying to feed Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski and unlock the Costa Rican defence.

Starting lineups to follow shortly.

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