Germany exude confidence

Staying confident
Tomorrow they finally step out at Porto's Estádio do Dragão for their eagerly-awaited Group D opener against the Netherlands. Skibbe is showing the same confidence that the coaching staff and players have displayed since arriving in Portugal.

'We have trained hard'
"All 23 players in the squad are fit and able to play against the Netherlands," Skibbe said. "We are all motivated and cannot wait for our first game of EURO 2004™. We have trained hard in the last three weeks and now we want to show what we can do on the pitch."

Lineup mystery
What Germany are still unwilling to reveal, however, are Rudi Völler's lineup and tactics. "You will simply have to wait and see," Skibbe said. "We have a game plan which we will stick to and we are very optimistic that we can get the right result."

Secret kept
The assistant coach also denied defender Jens Nowotny's claim that the players already know the team. "About eight players are certain of their place in the first game," Skibbe said. "The other players will have to wait until Tuesday before we tell them. At the moment only Rudi Völler, Erich Rutemöller and myself know the starting lineup."

Van Nistelrooij duel
Wörns, meanwhile, is focused on his likely foe in Porto, Ruud van Nistelrooij. "He is a world-class striker," Wörns said. "He is good in the air, can shoot with both feet and is quick. But I know that we can control him. We will simply have to back each other up, and if one player is beaten the next player will have to be waiting."

Dutch weaknesses
Still, Wörns can see ways of getting at the Dutch. "We know their strengths," he said. "If we allow them to take control and push forward all the time, we could well pay the price. But they have weaknesses too. They do not like to defend and we will have to wait and see how they cope with us forcing them to play our game."