FRANCE 98 – Match preview n°29

Yugoslavia’s Pedrag Mijatovic, whose side meet Germany in a winner-takes-all battle here on Sunday, is on the verge of crowning a wonderful domestic season with international success.

The 29-year-old Real Madrid striker scored the winner in the European Cup final against Juventus, hit an amazing seven goals in two World Cup play-off matches against Hungary, and now further international success beckons.

When Mitajovic returned to Yugoslavia in 1987 as one of an under-20 team which had just won the world youth cup in Chile, little did he know it would be another 11 years before he returned to the world stage.

That generation who played in Chile are only now preparing for what could be their finest hour, after being denied by international sanctions imposed on their country.

When he joined Real Madrid in the summer of 1995, Mijatovic resumed his striking partnership with striker Davor Suker who now plays for Croatia. The two had been in the Yugoslavian team in Chile.

Mijatovic, like the rest of his teammates, is hungry for success after their isolation during the civil war. And they now operate more as a unit than a collection of individuals now that their nations boundaries have been redrawn.

Central defender Christian Worns, who will play his club football at Paris Saint Germain next season, warned that the Germans will have their hands full to cope with a Yugoslav attack led by Mijatovic.

“He is an excellent passer of the ball and he’s always capable of doing something out of the ordinary. We’ll have to keep an eye out for him and concentrate hard right through the match,” Worns said.

Worns knows all too well the damage that Mijatovic can cause as the Yugoslav dangerman was instrumental in dumping his former club Bayer Leverkusen out of the Champions League last season.

Yugoslavia, unlucky to lose to Argentina on penalties in the 1990 quarter-finals, however have had limited preparation with players scattered worldwide.

After beating Iran 1-0 in their opening match, a win would earn Yugoslavia a place in the second round with a win over Germany who were 2-0 victors over the USA.

Coach Slobodan Santrac will be delighted 19-year-old midfielder Dejan Stankovic is over his twisted ankle and injured Atalanta defender Zoran Mirkovic should be available for the clash at the Felix-Bollaert stadium (kick-off 2:30 p.m. 1230 GMT).

AC Milan’s Dejan Savicevic was more of a doubt with a painful knee. “It’s a complicated injury,” Yugoslav football federation vice-president Dusan Maravic said on the talented midfielder’s possible return.

German coach Berti Vogts has injury doubts over Thomas Hassler (ankle), Steffen Freund (calf) and Jens Jeremies (ankle) as he tries to consolidate following their opening victory over USA at the Parc des Princes on Monday.

Many of Vogts’ players are supposedly in the twilight of their careers and the squad is the oldest in the tournament. But luckily the vast majority have stayed injury free as they prepared for their assault for a record-equalling fourth title.

Veterans include defenders Lothar Matthaus and Jurgen Kohler, and striker Jurgen Klinsmann, who earnined his 104th against the United States to put him second behind the 125-times capped Lothar Matthaus. He also hit the second goal against USA in a superb piece of skill as he cleverly controlled the ball before carefully picking his spot to put the result beyond doubt.

In addition the former Spurs striker’s 45th goal for his country was his ninth in the final stages of a World Cup, putting him level third for the Germans with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uwe Seeler.

And with Olivier Bierhoff, the two goal hero in Germany’s Euro 96 final win over the Czech Republic, Yugoslavia’s defenders are set to have a busy afternoon in Lens, the northern, former coal-mining town.

Libero Olaf Thon agrees with Worns’ assessment that the Germans are in line for about the toughest test they can get, short of playing Brazil.

“They are very strong individually, and quite capable of slipping their marker, which is what the Americans didn’t really know how to do,” says Thon. “The important thing for us to to make sure we seize the initiative and make sure of top spot in the group.”