Germany/Yugoslavia/USA/Iran

SCHEDULE June 14th June 15th YUGOSLAVIA - IRAN (SAINT-ETIENNE, 17:30) GERMANY - USA (PARIS, 21:00) June 21th GERMANY - YUGOSLAVIA (LENS, 14:30) USA - IRAN (LYON, 21:00) 6月25日 GERMANY - IRAN (MONTPELLIER, 21:00) YUGOSLAVIA - USA (NANTES, 21:00)

A battle between two giants: Germany and Yugoslavia Does Yugoslavia have a slight advantage with the attraction of its explosive offense? In Group F, which can be divided into two strong teams and two weak teams, there is no guarantee that Germany, which features unsophisticated, orthodox play from start to finish and is strong in the clutch, will come out on top of Yugoslavia because although many of Yugoslavia's players are forced to go elsewhere to earn big money, Yugoslavia has a wealth of talent and is considerably more skillful. At Euro 96, Germany never won on attack. However, as was shown by the match against Italy, even when they were overwhelmingly inferior, their defense showed no gaps whatsoever, except for the occasional spectacular failures by the ultra-aggressive Sommer. The strength of the two stoppers, Kohler and Helmer is particularly astonishing, which is precisely why Sommer is able to jump out on the attack. If Sommer, whose injuries have dragged on, does not make it in time for the tournament, Thon will use Ribeiro this time, but Germany's scoring depends to a considerable probability on the participation of Ribeiro in the offense. Among the forwards, Germany has Bierhoff who is strong and can force goals, but whether or not Klinsmann can play is uncertain due to injuries and all eyes are on older veterans Moller and Hassler to see if they will be able to get into proper condition in time and their play has been studied from all over the world. Thus, creating a numerical advantage by adding Ribeiro, who is difficult to mark, is the most efficient way to break down the opponent.

Compared to this, the Yugoslavian offense is ever-changing. Even on their own, Mijatovic, who is sharp and fleeting, and Savicevic, who is a dribbler with superior momentary speed, can create one chance after another even on their own. Behind these two top players, Stojkovic has a treasure chest full of ideas and from behind, Yugovic, with his high-quality moves and techniques, and Jokanovic jump out. Moreover, when Yugoslavia gets a free kick, it has the left foot of Mihajlovic, who can take aim on the goal from anywhere within the opposing team. The calculation is that Yugoslavia will start right out with a goal rush in its starting match against Iran and pass through to the next round as the top team in the group by maintaining this advantage.

TEAM POTENTIAL
	Offense	Defense	Overall	Probability of winning through
GERMANY	B	A	B	85%
YUGOSLAVIA	A	B	B	75%
USA	D	C	D	25%
IRAN	C	D	D	15%