TENERO, Switzerland: Euro 2008 co-host Austria will invoke the spirit of Cordoba against Germany on Monday and the prize this time could be more than just a sense of schadenfreude.
At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, an Austrian team with no chance of qualification beat West Germany 3-2 to take the reigning champion out of the tournament with it.
Thirty years on from that great upset, Austria has a chance to go one better.
A point would be enough for Germany to go through as Group B runner-up behind Croatia but victory for Austria could take it into the last eight at the expense of its old rival, provided Poland does not beat Croatia by a bigger margin.
A 50,000-member crowd will give the Austrians fervent backing in the capital but the cold reality is that Germany, despite a poor performance in its 2-1 defeat by Croatia, remains overwhelming favorite to get the point it need to go through.
That was acknowledged by Austria coach Josef Hickersberger, who played in that famous win in Cordoba - Austria's only victory over Germany at a major tournament.
"You don't often win against Germany, at least not if you are Austria," he said. "You know the statistics. I can't remember when Germany have lost twice in a row."
Germany's goal will be to reproduce the sharp counter-attacking soccer that took it to a 2-0 win over Poland in its first match.
"We see this is a challenge rather than a crisis," center-back Christoph Metzelder said at a news conference.
"Germany is always under pressure. It's exceptionally high for this game but our team spirit is good and it's just a matter of translating that on to the pitch."
Germany, three-time European champion, will be without Bastian Schweinsteiger after his red card against Croatia, and probably fullback Marcell Jansen, who has a shoulder injury.
Lukas Podolski, scorer of all three German goals so far, has overcome an ankle injury and will play. He is likely to shift up to attack alongside Miroslav Klose, with Mario Gomez losing his place after two unconvincing displays.
Clemens Fritz should drop back from midfield to right-back to cover the absence of Jansen, with Philipp Lahm moving over to the left. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Tim Borowski could then come into midfield to give the side more creativity.
Austria is also hit by the suspension of Sebastian Proedl, who picked up his second yellow card before winning the team's late penalty in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Poland.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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