There were some strange mind games being played in Belfast yesterday where both Northern Ireland manager Lawrie McMenemy and German boss Erich Ribbeck appeared to be in rather glum form ahead of this afternoon's European Championship Group Three clash at Windsor Park.
On the basis of the remarkable gulf in quality between the two managers' squads for the game, McMenemy would seem the more likely to be justified in his pessimism but the Germans have been having tough times lately, and Ribbeck's term as coach could come to a premature end if his side do not improve his current record of just one win in the five matches since he took over.
The recent 3-0 defeat by the United States was particularly embarrassing, but that might be safely set aside if his team could take control of a qualifying group that initially seemed unlikely to trouble them.
Currently, however, they lie fourth, having lost to Turkey and beaten Moldova. The repeated feuding within the camp, which has deprived the team of the services of Stefan Effenberg, has meant that the air of invincibility which previous German sides have carried with them has dissipated.
Northern Ireland, of course, have shown little respect for the reputation of the Germans in the past, having lost just once in the last six meetings between the two countries. But McMenemy's side look to have far too many limitations at the moment to score another victory. In their last outing, a 2-2 draw with Moldova in Belfast, McMenemy's men threw away a couple of points with some truly awful defending against set pieces.
A repeat of that sort of performance at the back would almost certainly pave the way to a humiliation against Germany, whose three-man attack is led by Olvier Bierhoff.
The Moldovans did concede two goals, finding Iain Dowie's ability to throw himself about around the area endlessly difficult to cope with. But, for all their recent difficulties, it is hardly likely that the likes of Lothar Matthaus and Markus Babbel will be troubled by the veteran striker, who rarely plays at club level these days. That will leave Michael Hughes, expected to play in a deep striking role behind Dowie, and Keith Gillespie as the main threats for the home side. Hughes, however, is long overdue an operation on a groin problem and Gillespie has missed some of this week's training sessions due to a minor hamstring pull. Hughes insists that a win today, a draw in Moldova and, ultimately, qualification for next year's finals are all within his side's reach, but his manager was more circumspect yesterday, going out of his way to play down the opposition's lack of form.
"The Germans have a lot of resolve," he said, "and if they have any problems or criticisms from their own country that will only make them want to answer those comments. If anything this will spur them on, which is not good news for us."
Ribbeck, however, made such talk sound upbeat when he arrived. "People have the wrong impression that we easily qualify for every European Championship or World Cup, but sometimes we leave it as late as the final 10 minutes in the last game," he remarked, before indicating that although his team would play to win, a draw would actually do him rather nicely.
Given that Germany are without Effenberg, and that Matthaus, who earns his 133rd cap, is not the force he was and given that the build-up to this game has included a major slanging match and a training ground punch up, a draw would not, perhaps, be the end of the world.
NORTHERN IRELAND (4-4-2, possible): Taylor (Fulham); A Hughes (Newcastle Utd), Patterson (Dundee Utd), Morrow (QPR), Horlock (Man City); Gillespie (Blackburn), Lennon (Leicester City), Lomas (West Ham), Rowland (QPR); M Hughes (Wimbledon), Dowie (QPR).
GERMANY (3-4-3): Kahn (Bayern Munich); Babbel (Bayern Munich), Matthaus (Bayern Munich), Worns (Paris St-Germain); Strunz (Bayern Munich), Hamann (Newcastle), Jeremies (Bayern Munich), Heinrich (Florenz); Bode (Werder Bremen), Neuville (Hansa Rostock), Bierhoff (AC Milan).
