Germany and Iran will look to book a berth in the knock-out stage when they clash in a Group C league match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup at Nehru Stadium, in Margao on Tuesday.
Both the teams have won their respective opening matches with Germany getting past Costa Rica 2-1 and Iran beating Guinea 3-1 last Saturday.
During their opening match, Germany had a shaky start before taking a lead midway in the first half through star striker Jann-Fiete Arp. Costa Rica fought back to restore parity in the second half through Andres Gomez.
- Complete Coverage of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup
With the match heading towards a draw, it needed substitute Noah Awuku's effort to score the winner in the dying minute to give Germany full points.
Iran, on the other hand, soaked all the pressure from Guinea in the first half and then came strongly in the second half and captilised on the chances that came their way to score a comfortable 3-1 win.
Come Tuesday, Nicolas Kuehn, Noah Awuku and John Yeboah will lead the attack from the middle for Germany and Jann- Fiete Arp, who has been the leading scorer at home, will look to continue his run against Iran, who has a compact defence.
"We did not get the start we wanted. The boys were nervy at first against Costa Rica but settled down and went on to beat Costa Rica," German coach Christian Wucku said.
"They have the potential to play better and I am looking forward to see them play to their potential against Iran who play a tactical game and have a strong defence," said Wucku.
Iran, who play a defensive game initially and slowly open up the game in the second half, will be looking to repeat the same against Germany who look strong in their attack.
Iran's coach Abbas Chamanian said: "Now that we have won against Guinea we need to counter the German as they are well organised in their attack and defence.
"We have worked out a strategy to counter and hopefully we'll succeed and win tomorrow which will see us into the round of 16," said Chamanian.
Teams (From):
Germany: Luca Plogmann, Alexander Nitzl, Pascal Hackethal, Dominik Becker, Jan Boller, Noah Awuku, Shaverdi Catin, Eric Majetshcek, Jan-Fiete ARP, Elias Abouchabaka, Nicolas Kuehn, Luis Klatte, Dennis Jastrzembski, Yannik Keitel, Kilian Ludewig, Lars Mai, maurice Malone, John Yeboah, Jessic Ngankam, Yann Bisseck and Marian Prins.
Iran: Gholam Zadeh Gomari, Satavi, Jalali, Esmaeil Zadeh Shahkola, Nasiri, Shariati Khameneh, Hosseinzadeh Tazehgheshlagh, Sharifi, Sayyad Manesh Shiadeh, Ghobeishavi, Delfi, Ashayer, Janipour, Davaran, Kooshki, Namdari DEhghadi, Ghaderi, Karimi Lishter, Sardari Amidabadi, Khaghani and Khoda Moradi.
Match starts at 8 pm.
Costa Rica look to open account against Guinea
Costa Rica would look to put the opening loss behind and hope for a positive result when they meet Guinea in a Group C match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Margao on Tuesday.
Costa Rica lost to Germany in their opening game of the tournament.
Costa Rica, who showed a lot of urgency in their attack in the beginning, gave a good account of themselves before losing through substitute Noah Awuku's late goal.
"Now, we have no option but to win against Guinea tomorrow to remain in contention for the knockout stage. The Africans are physically strong and we need to overcome them with our skilful ball play which we are known for.
"The boys know what is expected from them, and hopefully, they play their best and win tomorrow to keep us in contention for the knock-out stage," said coach Breansse Camacho.
Guinea will be without their key defender Cherif Camara, who got a red card in the last match. They will be looking for a win to keep their hopes alive.
They looked impressive against Iran in the first half and had several chances that went abegging. They were over ambitious in their attack in the second half and left their defence exposed, which Iran capitalised.
The Africans conceded a penalty and were down to 10 man when Camara was sent off for a harsh tackle.
