Should we fear the Germans?

Well, should we fear the Germans after they scored 8 against Saudi Arabia. Six of their goals were headers- which we can deal with, our problem is balls played through the middle. We are caught for pace not height. Maybe we can handle them.
On the other hand, any team that scores eight goals in the world cup finals cant be half bad. I know the Saudis were sh*t but Germany looked handy enough, we will have to watch Klose who scored a hatrick. They score a lot of goals, 24 in thier last 3 games- 6 against Austria, 10 against some J league side and 8 against the Saudis. They only conceded 2, that was against Austria.
IMO, we can give them a good game. We will have to go for a win as a draw may not be good enough because of Germanys goal difference and I cant see us scoring 8 against anyone. I think they are to be feared and may well be harder to get a result against than Cameroon were.

We draw against the Germans and they in turn draw against Cameroon, two reasonably likely results. That would leave the Germans winning the group on goal difference because neither us nor Cameroon will hit 8 against the Saudis. We'd have to beat the Saudis by more than Cameroon to take second place. Could we do it? We never seem to score a lot of goals, and sometimes struggle against the weakest side in the group. Surely the Saudis will just abandon all hope for their remaining two games and play everyone behind the ball to avoid any more embarassments.

A draw against Germany would be ok. I'd say Germany will beat Cameroon so that would just leave us needing to beat Saudi Arabia for second place in the group.

8-0. A nothing result really. Saudi were crap. I reckon Ireland have absolutely nothing to fear come wednesday. And remember WALES beat Germay a while ago. That aint to fearsome is it?

8-0 was impressive & the germans didn't even try really. However Saudi Arabia by far the worst team/performance that i'ver seen in a World Cup - they looked like an u-14 team. :rolleyes:

I wouldn't fear the germans but their demise may be exaggerated. I'd like to see Duff have a run at their central defenders though & german won't get time like they did against SA on wednesday.

The problem with a draw on wednesday is that unfortunately a draw for Cameroon & Germany in the last game would probably see both those teams through.

I'd say Mick will start with the team that started the 2nd half on saturday.....?

SA were atrocious, but I think we need to beat germany to be sure of going thru. It'll most likely come down to how many we score againsts the saudis and we've never been good at walloping teams. I'm going for a 2-1 Ireland win with a few lucky escapes.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Éanna
It'll most likely come down to how many we score againsts the saudis and we've never been good at walloping teams.

---

The question there is how many Cameroon will score against the Saudis. They didn't get too many in the African Nations Cup where the opposition wouldn't be too hot. If we draw with Germany we'll just need to beat the Saudis by more than Cameroon.

Of course its all speculation & dependent on other results but you could say that if the Saudis play that back in their first match they be even worse when playing their last?

I don't know if this work but i think if 3 teams finish on the same points the teams separated on results between each other?
If this is the case a 1-1 draw tomorrow would mean we almost through as a 0-0 draw between Germnay & Cameroon in th alst game mean we top the group by beating the Saudis?

Can any other statos confirm?

:eek:

Ok my senario chances have been dashed. :(

---------------------

Rules Relating To Progress From 1st Round
The criteria for progress from the first round matches is as follows:-

The points awarded will be 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

The ranking in each of the groups shall be determined as follows:-
a) greater number of points obtained in all the group matches
b) goal difference in all the group matches
c) greater number of goals in all the group matches

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their place shall be determined as follows:-
d) greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
f) greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned
g) drawing of lots by the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup

Have to admit lads I'm getting a wee bit critterpated at the moment. Like when we got Germany in the draw I was like "ah sure we'll be ok against them". But now, with less than 12 hours to go it's like well we have to go and actually DO it now... I'm feeling the oul butterflies even as I type this!