A match with real meaning awaits the public in Stuttgart on Sunday (2: AM - VN). Germany are keen to thank their amazing fans by clinching third place on the podium, while Miroslav Klose hopes to secure the adidas Golden Shoe award with a flourish. For a Portugal side attempting to equal their best-ever the World Cup finish of third in 1966, Luis Figo in particular will want to end his international career on a high.
"We want to put on a good team performance and end our World Cup with a win,” said Jurgen
Klinsmann, after reiterating that he was satisfied with his players’ efforts despite the 2-0 semi-final loss to Italy. For the host nation, this mini-final is an opportunity to thank their supporters before turning a new page to start their preparations for 2010. Hoping to spoil the party will be a Portugal team led for one last time by Figo, who aims to match the achievement of the legendary Eusebio in taking Portugal to third place in 1966.
With five goals at Germany 2006 and a total of ten in his two FIFA World Cups, Klose has had a successful tournament whatever happens. Nevertheless, he knows that any further goals would help seal his place at the top of the tournament's scoring chart. Pauleta, conversely, has been mainly misfiring in Germany. On target just once so far, the Paris Saint-Germain player needs to prove to Luiz Felipe Scolari that he is worthy of a starting place ahead of Nuno Gomes or Helder Postiga.
After the disappointment of the semi-final, will Germany be able to lift themselves again for one last tilt at a place among the medals? Accustomed to reaching FIFA World Cup Finals, the Nationalmannschaft might be disappointed at the prospect of playing in a third-place play-off, but the German public will definitely be expecting their team to finish 'their' FIFA World Cup on a high note.
The figures
64: the grand total of FIFA World Cup victories recorded by Germany.
40: the number of years which have elapsed since Portugal’s finest hour at football’s premier event, their third-place finish in 1966.
21: the number of yellow cards picked up by Portugal in Germany, more than any other team in the tournament.
14: the number of times Germany have played Portugal. The Nationalmannschaft have won six and
lost three of these encounters, with the other five ending in draws.
Birthdays
Saud Kariri (KSA, 26) and Dragoslav Jevric (SCG, 32), both of whom have appeared at Germany 2006, were born on 8 July.
A FIFA World Cup blast from the past
8 July 1990, West Germany 1-0 Argentina, Rome
After suffering disappointment at the final hurdle at the previous two tournaments, West Germany finally completed their hat-trick of world title successes. When they defeated Argentina courtesy of an Andreas Brehme penalty five minutes from time at Rome’s Olympic stadium, the contrasting images of the joyous Lothar Matthaus and the tearful Diego Maradona made for one of those unforgettable FIFA World Cup moments.
Not a lot of people know this
The Bundesliga will still be represented in the FIFA World Cup Final. Moreover, it is becoming a real tradition as this will be the ninth consecutive Final featuring at least one player from the German top flight. In this case, the only player plying his trade in Germany is Frenchman Willy Sagnol of Bayern Munich.
Having a laugh
"Playing against Zidane is a bit like playing that old cup and ball game. First you see it, then you don’t, then you see it again, then you don’t!” The man expressing his admiration for Zizou’s trickery before hostilities commence in the Final is none other than Italy’s Gennaro Gattuso.
(Source: FIFA)
