Germany, France, England vie for Euro 2012 berths

Shanghai Daily, June 3, 2011

Germany will need to stay cool under pressure when it makes an end-of-season push for a perfect six wins out of six in Euro 2012 qualifying against Austria today, according to Holger Badstuber.

Runners-up to Spain in 2008, the Germans are one of several heavyweight teams in action following the season finale in major domestic leagues. Joachim Loew's side top Group A on 15 points and Badstuber said it was about time Germany claimed another continental title in Poland and Ukraine next year after triumphs in 1972 and 1980 under the flag of West Germany and in 1996 as a unified nation.

"I think that playing in Vienna against Austria will be a hot encounter," the defender told UEFA.com. "They are highly motivated to play against Germany and get points but we should stay calm.

"We know our qualities and if we play well then we have a pretty good chance to win there."

In Group G, joint leaders England and Montenegro have home matches tomorrow against Switzerland and Bulgaria, while in Group D France is looking to avenge September's 0-1 home defeat by Belarus in Minsk tonight.

Laurent Blanc's team bounced back from that reverse with four straight wins and tops the group with 12 points from five matches ahead of Belarus on eight.

The French will also be aiming to put a recent controversy over proposed racial quotas in youth teams behind them.

Blanc, cleared by a probe into the discrimination row last month, said he would talk through the issue with his players as fullback Eric Abidal returns to the side following surgery to remove a liver tumor in March.

Portugal is also out for revenge when it hosts Norway in Lisbon tomorrow after going down 0-1 in Oslo. A win for Paulo Bento's side would erase Norway's three-point advantage at the top of the standings.

In a tight Group B, Slovakia, Russia and Ireland are tied on 10 points and will look to open a lead at the top against Andorra, Armenia and Macedonia respectively.

There are a further six qualifiers on June 7, including Germany's trip to Baku to play Azerbaijan, just over a year before the start of Euro 2012.