TIRANA, Sept 3: European champions Greece will be seeking their first win in Albania when the two southern Europe neighbours clash in their opening 2006 World Cup Group Two qualifying match on Saturday.
Albania won their last encounter in Tirana, 2-0 in November 2000, and are unbeaten at home under German coach Hans-Peter Briegel since 2002. "We hope to break the negative series of the matches with the Albanian team because we have never won in Tirana," Greece's German coach Otto Rehhagel said. "We have come here for the three points."
Rehhagel said most of his players had not begun playing in club competitions yet, so he did not expect them to be up to the standard of fitness or form that secured the country a surprise victory at Euro 2004 in Portugal.
He also refused to be drawn on the issue of the size of the bonuses paid to the players for their Euro 2004 win. "The coach deals only in the sporting issues of the team," he said.
The players want one million euros ($1.22 million) each but the Greek government says it can only afford four million euros to be divided among the 23 squad members, around 173,000 euros each, the same amount it gives to Olympic medal winners.
The Greek soccer federation, who plan to give 700,000 euros to each player to defuse the row, were widely expected to meet the players in Tirana on Friday and hand out cheques ahead of the match.
"We are left with a bitter taste, not because of the financial part but because they went back on their word," the players said in a statement. Probably with the Greek bonus row in mind, Albania Prime Minister Fatos Nano offered a bonus of $500,000, the most so far, to the whole team if they won.
Albania are expected to play a tight defensive game, emulating Greece's successful tactics in Euro 2004, on Saturday though will be without defender Geri Cipi who had been expected to mark Greek striker Angelos Haristeas.
PROBABLE TEAMS:
ALBANIA: Foto Strakosha; Elvin Beqiri, Adrian Aliaj, Klodian Duro, Ervin Skela, Altin Lala, Edvin Murati, Mehmet Dragusha, Besnik Hasi, Lorik Cana, Igli Tare
GREECE: Antonis Nikopolidis; Traianos Dellas, Yourkas Seitaridis, Stelios Venetidis, Costas Katsouranis, Theodoros Zagorakis, Nikos Dabizas, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Giorgios Karagounis, Zizis Vryzas, Angelos Haristeas.
REFEREE: Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez (Spain)
CONFIDENT BECKHAM
VIENNA: England captain David Beckham says he is ready to step into Steven Gerrard's central midfield role in their World Cup Group Six qualifier in Austria on Saturday.
Liverpool's Gerrard is doubtful for the tie with a groin injury but Beckham told a news conference on Friday that he would be happy to tuck in from his usual England role on the right to fill the gap.
"I usually play in centre-midfield for my club Real Madrid and it's a position I'm confident and comfortable in," he said. Beckham said England could equally easily cover for striker Wayne Rooney, one of their best performers at Euro 2004 but sidelined since the tournament with a foot injury.
"We have Jermain Defoe and Alan Smith who can do that job too. It's great to see young talent coming in," added Beckham who set England a minimum target of four points from the Austria game and against Poland in Chorzow on Wednesday.
After below-par performances in Portugal following newspaper reports of an extra-marital affair, Beckham returned to form in an August friendly, inspiring England to a 3-0 win over Ukraine.
FRANCE TO MISS ZIDANE
CLAIREFONTAINE: No longer able to depend on Zinedine Zidane for inspiration, Raymond Domenech's France will test their wits against Israel in their opening World Cup qualifier in Paris on Saturday.
With their influential number 10 retired from the international scene, Les Bleus have little choice but to quickly find a new strategy capable of securing a direct berth for the 2006 finals in Germany.
New coach Domenech has several ideas of his own and looks determined to put them into practice without delay. During a news conference on Friday, he hinted that the option of the unusual 3-5-2 line-up is very likely to start the game on Saturday.
The first half of the friendly against Bosnia in Rennes last month was reassuring from this point of view. The French had the opportunity to wrap up the game before halftime but Thierry Henry missed a clear chance and squandered a penalty, allowing Bosnia to come back and snatch a 1-1 draw.
Israel look like the right kind of challenge for a French team having to deal with the retirement of several former World Cup-winning players like Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu.
They are not a top-notch side like Italy, Spain or England but they are not a lowly one either. Asked about his feelings before his first match on the bench at the Stade de France, he said he was a bit nervous. He called on the public to come in numbers to the stadium and to forget about the failure of the team at the European championship. -Agencies
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