Germany

Germany have been drawn with the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Latvia in a tough Group D at Euro 2004.

The three-times world and European champions have a point to prove after being thrashed 5-1 by Romania in their previous outing last month in Bucharest.

Germany did not qualify for Euro 2004 in style and their performances since have done little to reassure their fans -- but their pedigree and competitive spirit means they cannot be written off for a moment.

Rising to the occasion has always been a German specialty and a reputation for being battlers, rather than artists, has never stopped the traditional heavyweights from collecting plenty of silverware over the years.

Coach Rudi Voeller, who helped Germany to lift the World Cup in 1990 as a striker and knows an exciting forward when he sees one, also expects plenty from TSV 1860's Benjamin Lauth, whom he described as the German striker with the greatest potential.

The defence, traditionally one of Germany's strongest assets, has looked shaky lately but young blood is available there too, not only in Hinkel but also in his Stuttgart team mate Philipp Lahm, who made a promising debut against Croatia.

Voeller can also rely on several experienced players and an inspirational playmaker in Michael Ballack, who showed once again in the qualifying campaign how vital he is to the team.

Reuters

Best performance: Winners as West Germany in 1972, 1980 and as Germany in 1996

Recent performances:
1980 Winners
1984 Round one
1988 Semi-finals
1992 Runners- up
1996 Winners
2000 Round one

SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: 1-Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich), 12-Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), 23-Timo Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart)

Defenders: 6-Frank Baumann (Werder Bremen), 3-Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), 2-Andreas Hinkel, 21-Philipp Lahm (both VfB Stuttgart), 5-Jens Nowotny (Bayer Leverkusen), 4-Christian Woerns (Borussia Dortmund), 17-Christian Ziege (Tottenham Hotspur)

Midfielders: 13-Michael Ballack (Bayern Munich), 18-Fabian Ernst (Werder Bremen), 22-Torsten Frings (Borussia Dortmund), 8-Dietmar Hamann (Liverpool), 16-Jens Jeremies (Bayern Munich), 15-Sebastian Kehl (Borussia Dortmund), 19-Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)