Football: Brown is wary of wounded Germany

BY COINCIDENCE, the German and Scottish squads who tonight square up on the park are also facing each other across a park, their respective hotels separated only by a lake and some opulent greenery. But the similarities end there.

Germany go into their friendly match with Erich Ribbeck able to field something resembling his strongest line-up, yet under pressure to provide further evidence that the midwinter defeat in the United States was not symptomatic of a deeper malaise. Craig Brown can reel off an entire side, complete with substitutes, comprising players unavailable to Scotland in the Weser Stadium, but is confident that the occasion will not develop into a damage- limitation exercise.

Brown is frequently accusedof deliberately lowering expectations for the national team. Yesterday, however, the Scotland manager found himself in the peculiar position of "talking up" both his own makeshift team and the Germans.

Addressing the mood of pessimism concerning Scotland's prospects of reaching next year's European Championship finals, he pointed out that they have lost only to the Czech Republic since last summer's World Cup. "Admittedly, we weren't hugely convincing in the other games, but no team can effect a transition as massive as we've been through without suffering a bit."

Moving on to the challenge posed by the European champions, Brown argued that even tonight's under-strength Scotland side would be superior, "man for man", to the Northern Ireland and Finland teams beaten by the Germans a month ago. He had studied a video of their 3-0 win in Belfast and considered it unimpressive, two of the goals having been somewhat fortuitous.

That said, Brown remains an avowed admirer of the balance between technical excellence and physical durability in German football. A close friend of the former national coach, Berti Vogts, he readily admitted that Scotland's customary 3-5-2 formation was modelled on the German system. "The game here isn't in crisis," Brown said. "Bayern Munich have reached the European Cup final with a team that's mainly German. We also see the likes of [Oliver] Bierhoff and [Jorg] Heinrich playing at the highest level in Italy, so I don't buy that argument."

The scheduling of the fixture has been criticised, coming as it does ahead of a weekend of important club matches. Brown, taking the inclusion of Bierhoff and three Bayern players in Germany's team as evidence of how seriously the hosts regarded the game, argued that it was actually a welcome test. "It's excellent for us because you don't learn anything from playing weak teams.

"Germany are a better side than Bayern, so we're talking about a level of football that's beyond the experience of some of our players. Their top guys either play in the Bundesliga, Serie A or the English Premiership, the three best leagues in Europe, and two of the top scorers in Europe, [Ulf] Kirsten and [Michael] Preetz have to settle for a place on the bench."

Paul Lambert, who gained a European Cup-Winners' medal with Borussia Dortmund before returning to Scotland, also viewed reports of Germany's demise as exaggerated. "People talk about there being no new players breaking through," said the Celtic midfielder. "But Moller, Kohler, Sammer and Reuter are no longer around, so that's not right."

Scotland will almost certainly break with convention and play 4-4-2 in the hope of countering Germany's wide attackers. Scot Gemmill, who was in the Euro 96 and France 98 squads without kicking a ball in anger, receives a long-overdue opportunity. His colleague in Everton's midfield, Don Hutchison, is expected to start for the first time, operating as a striker. Revealingly, Germany's 38-year-old libero, Lothar Matthaus, has 22 international goals (not to mention 134 caps) whereas the Scots' leading scorer is Billy Dodds with three.

The genial Ribbeck, meanwhile, has warned his players that the hostile reaction provoked by their failure in Florida will be as nothing compared with what they can expect if they lose tonight. He added that he preferred the role of underdogs, but that does not come with the territory - least of all at home to a scratch Scotland XI.

GERMANY (1-2-4-3): Lehmann (Borussia Dortmund); Matthaus (Bayern Munich); Novotny (Bayer Leverkusen), Worns (Paris St-Germain); Strunz (Bayern Munich), Hamann (Newcastle), Jeremies (Bayern Munich), Heinrich (Fiorentina); Neuville (Hansa Rostock), Bierhoff (Milan), Heldt (TSV 1860 Munich).

SCOTLAND (4-4-2, probable): Sullivan (Wimbledon); Weir (Everton), Hendry (Rangers), Boyd (Celtic), Davidson (Blackburn); Johnston (Sunderland), Durrant (Kilmarnock), Lambert (Celtic), Gemmill (Everton); Dodds (Dundee United), Hutchison (Everton).