Germany to take on Serbia in EURO 2008 dress rehearsal at the VELTINS Arena
19.12.2007
Germany fans looking to get in the right mood for the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland should head for Schalke on Saturday, 31 May. Joachim Löw's side will take on Serbia at the VELTINS Arena in their final warm-up game before the tournament.
The match against the Serbs will serve as the dress rehearsal for Germany's opening group game against Poland in Klagenfurt on 8 June. Germany boss Joachim Löw is therefore likely to field a full-strength side. "We have deliberately sought out these opponents for our preparations. According to our information Serbia are similar in terms of their mentality and style of play to Poland and Croatia, who are both in our group", explained Löw.
The VELTINS Arena may well see two Schalke team-mates come up against each other, with Kevin Kuranyi likely to be in the Germany squad and Mladen Krstajic a candidate for Serbia. Though the Serbs failed to qualify for the European Championship, Krstajic can still see himself playing for the national team. "I've always enjoyed doing so and I see no reason why I should retire from international football. But we'll have to wait and see who takes charge of the national team and how he sees things developing in terms of the squad", the 33-year-old said.
Serbia will not have especially fond memories of the VELTINS Arena, though, after going down 6-0 to Argentina at the 2006 World Cup, then as Serbia and Montenegro. The match at Schalke on 31 May will probably kick off at 1800 CET. The 23-man Germany squad will then spend some time at home before setting off for their EURO headquarters at Ascona in Switzerland on 3 June 2008.
