Scolari wary of new Chelsea charge Ballack
Thursday, 19 Jun 2008 15:30
Luiz Felipe Scolari warns Portugal of threat posed by Germany's Michael Ballack ahead of first Euro 2008 quarter-final
Luiz Felipe Scolari has warned his Portugal team to be wary of the threat posed by Germany captain Michael Ballack.
The Euro 2008 quarter-final the two teams will contest tonight could be Scolari's last game with Portugal before he joins Ballack at
Chelsea.
Scolari has already admitted fears over the aerial potency of the Germans, which is exemplified by Ballack.
"Ballack is an important player, a great player," the Brazil-born coach explained.
"He has a lot of technical qualities and is one of the great players in the tournament. Maybe he has hit peak form over the last two years.
"Ballack is excellent, one of the athletes who has been outstanding here along with four or five others. He deserves special attention and we'll have to be careful, but we can't just worry about Ballack. Today, one of the best full-backs is [Philipp] Lahm."
Scolari plans to play exactly the same Portuguese lineup in Basel tonight as beat Turkey and the Czech Republic in their opening games of group A.
Germany will be denied the presence of their manager Joachim Low on the touchline after he was sent to the stands in their defeat of Austria.
The pre-tournament favourites also have injury doubts over Lukas Podolski and Torsten Frings, although Bastian Schweinsteiger is back from suspension.