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Post Draw: Quotes and Analysis |
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Germany
(GER) |
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Coach: Rudi Völler
This is a middling group - neither weak nor a group of death like Argentina’s – you don’t have to be an expert to realise that that one is the strongest group. Cameroon are not to be underestimated, since they are by far and away the best team in Africa and are the one team from that continent with the potential to go far. It will also be particularly enjoyable to face Winni Schäfer. Ireland might also not appear to be one of the top teams at first glance, but I haven’t forgotten that they qualified at the Netherlands’ expense. Saudi Arabia is somewhat of an unknown quantity and represents the outsider of the group, so we are going to have to learn all about them in the coming months.
Quite apart from the fact that they have a very strong team, I am glad that we weren’t drawn against England again, having met them in our qualifying group and also at EURO 2000. We have a few options regarding accommodation in Japan and we’ll be trying to find a nice area over the next two or three days – it’s a really important aspect when you are so far from home. Two elements are always primordial – good training grounds and comfortable accommodation.
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Saudi Arabia
(KSA) |
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Coach: Nasser Al-Jawhar
We are in a good group and we can produce good results. All the teams which qualified for the finals are strong but we will try our best against them. In football nothing is impossible. If you play well, you can win. Germany is one of the biggest teams in the world and we respect them. We saw Ireland in the last two games against Iran and we have some information about them. We will try to put an end to the well-known "Arabian hospitality".
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Rep. of Ireland
(IRL) |
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Coach: Mick McCarthy
If you’re drawn in any group you deserve respect because you qualified in the first place … We came out of a group with Holland. If Holland were here, they’d be good enough to win it.
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Cameroon
(CMR) |
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Coach: Winfried Schäfer
We will have to produce some top performances to progress. With Ireland and Germany, this is a strong group. The Cameroon team has a lot of character. The players are very enthusiastic about their football, patriotic and most importantly, they stick together as a team. It is a pleasure for me to train them. Speaking fluent French is not necessary – the players don’t need a language teacher, they need a football coach. I needed to earn their trust and I have done that.
I am glad to be playing Germany. They have progressed at every World Cup and if Scholl and Deisler are fit, they will have a good team. I hope we’ll beat them, though.
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Group Analysis:
This is one of three groups that will see countrymen going head-to-head, with German-born Winfried Schäfer leading Cameroon against his fatherland. Metsu of Senegal and Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson will have similar pangs of conscience. This will be the first time that Cameroon - the current Olympic and African Cup of Nations champions - will have played Germany.
Saudi Arabia will be gracing their third consecutive FIFA World Cup and will be hoping to emulate their performance of USA 94, where they reached the last 16. They notched 47 goals in 2002 qualifying - a record amongst the 32 qualifiers. Striker Talal Al Meshal was also top of the scoring charts among qualified players with 11 goals in the preliminary round.
Ireland Republic was the first team to put the past behind them and agree to play against West Germany after World War II. In honour of this magnanimous gesture, Germany adopted a green jersey for its away kit, so there will be a hint of emotion and gratitude in the air when the two teams meet.
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