Almeida & Co. look to shatter the German dream

Werder Bremen’s Hugo Almeida (r.) and central defender Fernando Meira, captain of VfB Stuttgart, have just one target: Destroy the dreams of the German eleven and progress to the EURO 2008 semi-finals.
First Team
Thursday, 19.06.2008 / 15:10

The Portuguese are extremely self confident going into their EURO 2008 quarter final clash with Germany. And why shouldn’t they be? “We have a very good team and a good chance to be up among the best,” remarked Werder striker Hugo Almeida before the competition began in an interview with WERDER.TV.

The Portuguese are extremely self confident going into their EURO 2008 quarter final clash with Germany. And why shouldn’t they be? “We have a very good team and a good chance to be up among the best,” remarked Werder striker Hugo Almeida before the competition began in an interview with WERDER.TV. The Portuguese proved to be an extremely strong side indeed and qualified for the quarter finals after their second group game against the Czech Republic. The 0:2 defeat with their reserve eleven against tournament co-hosts Switzerland, who had already been eliminated, in the final group game was little more than a meaningless blip.

 

Despite having contrasting group phase experiences, the Portuguese have plenty of respect for the German eleven. Many of the players will have no so fond memories of the 2006 World Cup third place play-off tie as Bastian Schweinsteiger beat Portugal 3:1 almost on his own It’s not only recent memories that have left an impression on Portugal though noted Almeida as he looked to the current mixture of young and experienced in trainer Joachim Löw’s squad: “They have really extraordinary players in Ballack and Frings, but on the whole it is a very good team.”

 

The German side don’t just have exclusively positive memories of tonight’s opponents though. At the EURO 2000 competition, then trainer Erich Ribbeck’s side crumbled to a 0:3 defeat against a second strain Portuguese eleven who had rested stars such as Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Joao Pinto.

 

There are still three players in today’s squads who were there on that fateful night eight years ago. Portugal’s Nuno Gomes was introduced as a substitute whilst Germany’s Jens Lehmann, who was second choice to Oliver Kahn, and Michael Ballack, taken off at half time, were in the German team as they were given a lesson in football. Tonight Löw’s men plan to put memories of that bitter night behind them whilst Portugal plan to shatter the German dream. One thing is for sure – an exciting night is on the cards.

 

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