Clash of the Euro titans

24 March 2016 - 10:31 By Mark Gleeson

The controversial goal that decided the World Cup final 50 years ago, when Geoff Hurst scored at Wembley, remains the defining reference to meetings between England and Germany. But it seems a pity that it overshadows a long history of some epic clashes between these two world football superpowers.There have been many other great games in much more recent times, like the Germans winning the last game at the old Wembley, or the massive debate over goal-line technology that followed England's elimination at the hands of their arch rivals in Bloemfontein at the 2010 World Cup finals.The best of the games was in 2001, at the height of Sven Goran Eriksson's managerial stint, when Michael Owen scored a hat-trick and England beat the Germans 5-1 away in a remarkable World Cup qualification result.This Saturday's game at the same Olympic Stadium in Berlin is likely to be a lot closer as both sides try out new combinations and faces ahead of participation in the mid-year European Championship in France.Germany are arguably better polished and should edge the game, but these pre-tournament friendlies rarely reveal much.The match is the highlight of this long weekend's featured Soccer 6 pool, in which it forms M6.Let's look at other matches:M1 Cameroon v South Africa:Cameroon are at the top of Group M with six points, while South Africa have a paltry one. It means that to have any realistic chance of qualifying for next year's African Nations Cup finals in Gabon, South Africa must become only the second country in 40 years to win a competitive international in Cameroon.M2 Poland v Finland:Poland prepare to participate in the Euro 2016 tournament in France with another warm-up game after beating fellow finalists Iceland and the Czech Republic last November.Finland have lost only once in their last six international meetings with Poland, despite being far behind them in the Fifa rankings.M3 Austria v Albania:Both countries are headed to Euro 2016 and warm up with this friendly in Vienna. Austria have won five of their last six internationals, while Albania have had only one victory in five years.M4 Cape Verde Islands v Morocco:The Cape Verde Islands are now the top-ranked African team in the Fifa rankings, but have seen their coach Rui Aguas leave at the start of the year in a pay dispute. Morocco will also be debuting a new coach as Herve Renard takes over. He has won two of the last three Nations Cup titles - with Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast last year.M5 Hungary v Croatia:Hungary have not beaten Croatia in six internationals since Croatia became an independent nation in 1992. Three of the six meetings have ended in draws and the other three in Croatia's favour...

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