QUOTE:
Croatia and Poland aren't rabbits.

Actually, you've got a good point there. Croatia are certainly a better side than England, and Beenhakker has made Poland a solid outfit. I think Germany are going to have a tougher time of it than everybody expects.

I was being a bit harsh on Klose, too. He's scored a phenomenal number of goals for Germany - nearly forty at a rate of one every other game - but has only scored (I think) one goal against one of the other "top" nations - Argentina, Brazil, Italy, France, Spain, Holland and, ahem, England. He's had a lot of criticism for that.

But the thing is, apart from banging them in against the likes of Saudi Arabia, he's always good for an undeserved winner against a middle-ranking nation such as the Croats or the Poles. It's an important job, and he does it well.

In a way, he sums up what this current German team are about. Not really all that good, but * tosses a Euro in the DSF "Phrasenschwein" * effective. Better than the sum of their parts.

Which is admirable - if I were a neutral, I'd like them. But they're not going to thump anyone, so I'd forget Gomez or Kuranyi.