Stuttgart, Germany (My Sportsbook) - After falling short of reaching the World Cup final, Germany will try for a third place finish in Saturday's third place match against Portugal.
The third place match will be played in Stuttgart's Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion before the tournament finals between France and Italy on Sunday in Berlin.
Germany enters the match after a crushing 2-0 loss to Italy in the first match of the semifinal round on Tuesday. The loss was the country's first of the tournament. The two teams failed to find a goal in the first 90 minutes, leading to the 30 minute window of extra time.
Just when it looked as if the match would be headed into a penalty kick shootout, Italy's Fabio Grosso scored in the 119th minute. Alessandro Del Piero added a goal to seal the victory two minutes later to give Italy a spot in the finals.
For Portugal, a spot in the third place match was secured after a 1-0 loss to France on Wednesday. Zinedine Zidane scored the only goal of the match on a penalty kick in the 33rd to give France another crack at the tournament's trophy. The semifinal loss was Portugal's first loss of the tournament as well, with Zidane's penalty kick goal just the second goal conceded by the team.
Both teams are expected to alter their starting lineups for Saturday's match. For Germany, a knee injury to captain Michael Ballack is expected to force him to the sidelines for the match. Ballack has struggled with various injuries throughout the tournament.
Miroslav Klose has also battled through injuries, but is expected to play after being declared fit. Klose has played a large role in the team's offense, scoring five goals in six matches, topping the tournament's goal- scorers list.
A familiar face in goal could be on the sidelines as well, as German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has reportedly agreed to step aside to allow veteran goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to take his place. Kahn, who has 85 international caps, could be making his final World Cup appearance. The goalkeeper is a German hero, and plays in Germany during the club season with Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is also expected to make some changes for Saturday as defender Miguel is expected to miss the match due to a knee injury. Forward Ricardo Carvalho will also miss the contest, due to suspension. Carvalho is one of three of the team's players to have played in every minute of every match thus far.
Both teams have relied on superb defensive lines throughout the tournament. Portugal has only conceded two goals, while the German back line went three straight matches before conceding a goal in the quarterfinal win in penalties with Argentina. Previously, Germany had allowed two goals in its first group stage match against Costa Rica.
This is Germany's fourth third place match, with the last finishing in a 1-0 win over Uruguay in 1970.
Saturday marks the 15th meeting between the two countries, with Germany holding the advantage with six wins and three losses. The teams have drawn five times in the 14 previous meetings.
