Germany, the champions of the World, have to prove their worth against Robert Lewandowski's Poland this week. Last week, the Bayern players paid a customary visit to the Oktoberfest. One might suspect that the main goal of the German players was to intoxicate fellow player Lewandowski. Lewandowski was only too keen to do the job himself; he seemed fairly confident that he would have a laugh or two when he took on his club teammates for international glory.
Germany will be without many important players including Mesut Özil and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Özil's poor luck at Arsenal continues. Germany will not be seeing him back too soon. Schweinsteiger will not come back perhaps until he is fully fit. He has not featured for Bayern since an appearance in a preseason friendly in the US. Marco Reus injured himself in Germany's match against Scotland and is out. Mario Gomez is out due to yet another problem in his injury ravaged Fiorentina career.
Poland leads the qualifying group after bulldozing Gibraltar on opening day. Scotland, however, proved much tougher opposition to Germany than Gibraltar did to Poland. The Germans, having wasted quite a few good opportunities, took the lead through a player who is becoming the most reliable outfield player in the national side, Thomas Müller. Scotland equalized due to sloppy play from Germany at the back. However, Müller eventually struck the winner, handing Germany three valuable points.
Meetings between Germany and Poland occur quite often. The two played out a dour 0-0 draw prior to the World Cup in May. The two also played out a draw, 2-2, in a friendly in 2011. The previous competitive match between these rivals came in the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. Germany beat Poland, 2-0, in 2008.
Joachim Löw has to fill the big gaps left by Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker in the national side. He also has to guide his team through injuries and post World Cup issues until next year.
Poland's Starting Lineup: Szczesny, Szukala, Jodlowiek, Wawrzyniak, Glik, Piszczek, Krychowiak, Grosicki, Rybus, Milik, Lewandowski.
Germany's Starting Lineup: Neuer, Hummels, Durm, Rudiger, Boateng, Bellarabi, Kroos, Götze, Kramer, Schürrle, T. Müller.
Can Germany beat Poland? Interested in learning more about Euro 2016 Qualifying? Check out our Euro 2016 Qualifying Page.
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