Internationals / Mike Norman / 29 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Mike Norman's got that Monday morning feeling again, which has caused him to cast doubts over England's chances of becoming the U21 European Champions tonight. Have faith Mike, have faith.

There's only one thing worse than playing the 'old enemy' Germany in a major international football final... and that's losing to Germany in a major international football final!

At approximately 7:40 tonight, England and Germany will emerge from the tunnel at the Swedbank Stadion in Malmo ahead of the U21 European Championship Final. Last week, the teams drew 1-1 in their concluding Group B match - England being the better side despite making wholesale changes to their starting 11.

Stuart Pearce's men are therefore deserving of their [1.74] favourites status in the tournament Winner market (Germany are [2.3]), but as every second ticks by, my confidence in an England victory ebbs away dramatically.

I have a horrible feeling that I might be made to eat my own words. A few days ago, just before Germany's semi-final against Italy, I wrote, "As we have come to expect from German football teams at any level, they are disciplined, hard-working, incredibly difficult to break down, and more often than not, able to do just enough to succeed".

What followed against the Italians was Germany being disciplined, hard-working, incredibly difficult to break down, and doing just enough to succeed!

On a more positive note, I did write this about England - "Having seen every team in the tournament at least twice now, I wouldn't put anyone off backing England at [3.4] to become the U21 European Champions".

So what do I feel now? I really don't know to be honest - one minute I'm all over an England victory, the next I'm thinking that Germany will have too much nous for us.

The English lads have an enormous amount of Premiership experience to call upon, as well as holding the advantage over tonight's opponents when it comes to quality. But if there's one football nation out there that can achieve success without necessarily being the most talented, then it is Germany. Their mental attitude, and their discipline in terms of working together as a team, stands them out as being one of the most feared nations in the world of football.

So forget what I think (he's says whilst sitting on the fence) because I'm more up and down than a Chippendales' backside right now. Instead, have a read of what our expert Tobias Gourlay thinks in his excellent in-depth match preview.

Pearce yesterday reported that he has 23 fit players ahead of today's final, which means that, although Joe Hart, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Fraizer Campbell are suspended, Theo Walcott has shrugged off his knock and will definitely start the game up front. Expect Adam Johnson to come in and play on the left side of midfield/attack with James Milner switching to the right.

German coach Horst Hrubesch is likely to select striker Sandro Wagner as a replacement for the suspended Ashgan Dejagah, whilst captain Sami Khedira should return from injury.

In the Match Odds market, England are available to back at [2.42], Germany at [3.4] and The Draw at [3.3]. Don't forget though, that just like any other football match, Betfair has a wide range of markets, including First Goalscorer, Correct Score, Over/Under 2.5 Goals, and my personal favourite, Half Time/Full Time.

It's going to be a tense night that's for sure. I just hope that when I'm doing my final blog tomorrow, I do it with a huge smile on my face whilst naming quite a few English players in my team of the tournament.