Football – Uruguay vs Germany
Uruguay v Germany, Port Elizabeth, Saturday 1930 BST
Uruguay and Germany meet on Saturday night in a match neither nation wanted to be in, the much-maligned World Cup third-place play-off.
Germany are the 4/5 favourites with Paddy Power to repeat their triumph in this match at the 2006 tournament, when they beat Portugal 3-1 in Stuttgart, and coach Joachim Low insists his side are focused on victory.
“We will approach the match (for third place) seriously,” he said after the 1-0 semi-final defeat against Spain.
“We will come to terms with the disappointment and look forward. We have to look ahead and work hard and on Saturday provide a grand finale, if even a small finale.”
The loss to Spain was a massive blow to the Germans after fantastic victories over England and Argentina in the knockout stages and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer believes they lacked “courage” on Wednesday night.
That shouldn’t be a problem against Uruguay with the pressure off and that could give Low’s men the chance to get back to their swashbuckling best.
Miroslav Klose is a doubt for the Germans with a back injury but assistant coach Hansi Flick is hoping that the striker will feature and there is no doubt that he will do everything possible to prove his fitness.
The Bayern Munich forward is only one goal away from equalling Ronaldo’s record of 15 goals at the finals and this should be his final chance to shine with age against him featuring in Brazil in 2014.
He would be 36 if he featured at that tournament and the plethora of young talent in Germany suggests there will be plenty of suitors looking to take his place in the squad over the next four years.
You can get odds of 13/10 with bet365 for Klose to find the back of the net on Saturday night and we will take an interest with the opportunity for our stake to be returned if the striker fails to feature.
Uruguay also have a worry over their talismanic striker ahead of the game with Diego Forlan suffering with a thigh injury.
The Atletico Madrid forward, like Klose, could still feature and he will be joined in attack by the returning Luis Suarez, back after a one-game ban for his handball against Ghana.
Jorge Fucile also returns from suspension for the Uruguayans but Germany still look stronger and are rightly considered by the bookmakers as the favourites for this match.
It is, however, with Klose that they will place our faith in Port Elizabeth in the hope that he can find his fitness and take his place and use his final chance to shine at the World Cup.
Verdict: Uruguay 1 Germany 3