Previous bronze finals:


Germany:
German teams have appeared three times in the match battling for the third place. First time was in second World Cup in 1934 when Italy were the hosts. Germany lost their semi-final against Czechoslovakia 3-1 and ended met Austria, who lost to Italy in the semi-final, in the bronze final. The german side opened with a shocker and Ernest Lehner put his side 1-0 up in the first minute. Edmund Conen scored in the 27th minute to increase the lead to 2-0 but Austria striked back in the very next minute. Ernest Lehner scored his second an last goal just before the half-time break. Germany won the match 3-2 in the end after Austria had gotten their second goal 9 minutes into the second half.

Did you know? Italy won this tournament after needing a rematch against Spain in the quarter-final. First match ended 1-1 a.e.t. and the second one Italy won 1-0. Both matches played at Giovanni Berta. Italy went on to win the tournament  with a 2-1 win (a.e.t) over Czechoslovakia in the final. Former World Cup champions, Uruguay, did not participate.



In 1958 Germany lost 3-1 against the hosts, Sweden, in the semi-final. In the bronze final they faced France on the opposite half. It took 16 minutes before France opened the score and took the lead 1-0, but Germany striked back just 2 minutes later. Many would probably think that the last 70 minutes of the match would end up kinda boring with, but specially France had other intentions. They scored twice more before the half-time break and had a good 3-1 lead as they walked onto the pitch for the second half to start. Germany managed to score 2 goals in the last 45 minutes, but that didn't help at all. France, with Just Fontaine leading on, scored 3 goals more to win the match 6-3. Just Fontaine scored 4 goals in this match.

Did you know? Just Fontaine is the all time scorer when counting 1 World Cup alone? He scored 13 of Frances total of 23 goals in this particular World Cup. 7 goals more then the legendary brazilian player, Pele (17 yrs old at the time), scored.



Germany faced their third loss in a semi-final in Mexico 1970. This time against Italy, same nation as they lost to in the semi-final 4 days ago. This match is one of the most historical matches ever played in a World Cup. The german player, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger scored a 90th minute goal with the last kick on the ball about 3 minutes into the overtime. Italy ended up winning winning the match 4-3 after 2 stunishing extra time halfs. Italy went on to lose against Brazil in the final while Germany faced Uruguay in the bronze final. They won the match 1-0 after a goal by Wolfgang Overath in the 26th minute.

Did you know? Gerd "Der Bomber" Mueller got the Golden Shoe. He scored remarkeble 10 of  his 14 World Cup goals in this particular World Cup. Only Ronaldo (15) have scored more goals total during World Cup tournaments.



Portugal:
Played there only Bronze final until now in England 1966. They got beaten 2-1 by England in the semi-final. The opponent in the bronze final was former Soviet Union. A match that should be extremely exiting for the supporters on both sides. Eusebio opened the score line with a penalty kick only 12 minutes into the match. Soviet struck back in the dying minutes of the first half. Edouard Malofeiev scored the equalizing goal. Only 1 minute before full time Torres became the Portugal hero when he scored the winning goal. Portugal had taken their first and only medal so far in the World Cup hostory.

Did you know? The well known Portgual player, Eusebio, is originally from Mozambique. He scored 41 goals in 64 apperances for the national  team. 9 of them got scored in the 1966 World Cup when he got the Golden Shoe.






So far in World Cup 2006:

		Germany						Portugal
Stage		Opponent	Result					Opponent	Result
Grp		Costa Rica	4-2					Angola	1-0
Grp		Poland	1-0					Iran	2-0
Grp		Ecuador	3-0					Mexico	2-1
1/8 final		Sweden	2-0					Holland	1-0
1/4 final		Argentina	1-1 a.e.t 4-2 PSO					England	0-0 a.e.t 1-3 PSO
1/5 final		Italy	0-2 a.e.t					France	0-1

Lineups for the match:

	Germany		Portugal
	12. KAHN Oliver		1. RICARDO
	2. JANSEN Marcell		2. PAULO FERREIRA
	5. KEHL Sebastian		4. RICARDO COSTA
	6. NOWOTNY Jens		5. FERNANDO MEIRA
	7. SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian		6. COSTINHA
	8. FRINGS Torsten		9. PAULETA
	11. KLOSE Miroslav		11. SIMAO SABROSA
	16. LAHM Philipp		14. NUNO VALENTE
	19. SCHNEIDER Bernd		17. CRISTIANO RONALDO
	20. PODOLSKI Lukas		18. MANICHE
	21. METZELDER Christoph		20. DECO

My own thoughts and prediction for the match:


Germany got lots of changes in their lineup for tonights match. Kahn coming in for Lehmann, Huth coming in for Mertesacker, Jansen coming in for Friedrich and last Kehl coming in for Ballack. This probably cause some rocations like Philip Lahm playing right back since Marcell Jansen is left back only and Thorstein Frings will get a more attacking role with Kehl taking his usual part in the team.

Portugal have also had to make som rocations. Nuno Valente and Ricardo Costa replacing Miguel and Ricardo Carvalho in the back line. Also Figo have been put on the sideline from the start when he's playing his last match for the national side. Simao Sabrosa comes in to take his place.

For tonights match i believe Portugals midfield gonna take control of the match. Deco will attack the space between the defenders and midfielders while Maniche and Costhina gonna take care of Thorstein Frings.

Duels to watch;
Christiano Ronaldo vs Marcell Jansen
Simao Sabrosa vs Phillip Lahm
Nuno Valente vs Miroslav Klose
Paulo Ferreira vs Bastian Schweinsteiger

My tip for the match might please Spinner tonight. Portugal will win 2-1. Goals scored by Figo and Ronaldo. Podolski will score for Germany as the portugese defence will concentrate to much on Klose.


Edited 20:59 due to Huth is changed with Nowotny to start and my little typo "duesl" insted of "duels"