Löw will rally Germany with Klinsmann speech

Germany coach Joachim Löw will have an easy way of rallying the team ahead of their Euro 2008 opener against Poland tomorrow – just copy his predecessor Jürgen Klinsmann.

"We're going to get a transcript of what Jürgen Klinsmann said two years ago and just repeat that," assistant coach Hansi Flick joked when asked at a news conference yesterday what he and Löw would say in their pre-match talk.

Germany beat Poland 1-0 with a last-gasp winner in the group phase at the World Cup two years ago so the speech from the former coach obviously had some effect.

Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings will be pulling the strings in midfield for Germany but who will play either side of them remains a mystery.

Striker Lukas Podolski has been used out of position on the left wing, while Clemens Fritz appears to have overtaken Bastian Schweinsteiger as first choice for the right wing. David Odonkor, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Tim Borowski are also candidates.