BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua By sportswriter Pan Yi ) -- German rising star striker Lukas Podolski has said that it is good enough for Poland to finish second in the group A of the 2006 World Cup finals this summer, which also include hosts Germany, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

    The prediction from Podolski, who has been touted as new golden boy of German soccer, implements that Germans will no doubt dominate the group. And his favor towards Poland was just because he was born in the Polish city of Gliwice.

    Always expected to shine in FIFA World Cup year, Germany will be even more menacing with home advantage this time around. Statistics show that all World Cup hosts have advanced through the group stage, even if they come from soccer-developing Asia, like South Korea and Japan in 2002.

    There is no reason for soccer powerhouse Germany to break the "rule". And their target is to win the World Cup. West Germany had claimed the title three times and each time they did not seem to have a chance. But in the finals they upset the then hot favorites Hungary in 1954, the Netherlands in 1974 and Argentina in 1990. In 2002, the less eye-catching German squad stormed into the final again but lost to Brazil 0-2 due to star goalkeeper Oliver Kahn's fatal mistake.

    Last month, a poll showed that only five percent of German fans believe their soccer team would win the 2006 World Cup trophy and another 10.8 percent believe that the hosts would not pass the group stage. The pessimistic attitude might come from former coach Rudi Voeller's conservative mind and his team's early exit at the 2004 European championship.

    However, Juergen Klinsmann, who had been the lethal striker of the 1990 World Cup-winning team, took over as coach in 2004, and rejuvenated the team which had not beaten a major power since October 2000. The team changed from its slow, predictable style under Voeller to become more fast-paced and focused on attack.

    The new boss enjoyed a near-perfect start to his time in office, opening his reign with a 3-1 victory in Austria before earning a deserved 1-1 draw with Brazil in a repeat of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final.

    His team displayed spirit and desire at last year's Confederations Cup where it showed its quick-paced attacking style and battled to a commendable third place at the eight-nation tournament, beating Australia, Tunisia and Mexico along the way.

    Klinsmann picked up several young talents, such as Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and Cologne's striker Lukas Podolski, and ended months of debate by naming Arsenal's Jens Lehmann as his new No. 1 goalkeeper, leaving longtime starter Oliver Kahn on the bench.

    Naturally, the armband of the captain went from Kahn to the key playmaker in the midfield Michael Ballack who has scored dozens of winners for Germany and Bayern Munich and is in his prime at 29.

    This summer, the German striking force will come from Werder Bremen's Miroslav Klose, who was the leading scorer the Bundesliga this season, and Podolski, a quick-paced emerging star who had collected three goals in last year's Confederations Cup, including one in the semi-final against Brazil.

    In the midfield, Ballack will no doubt be the most important driving force and his powerful and accurate long-distance shots will be another lethal weapon for the Germans. Ballack's Bayern partner Schweinsteiger will be a strong support for the German No.1 playmaker.

    However, the leaky defense may be a headache for Klinsmann, as most of the team's defenders are in their early 20s or not regularstarters. In the Confederations Cup third-place playoff, Germany netted four goals but conceded three to Mexico.

    To this question, Klinsmann gave his answer,"We want to use thehome-field advantage and we want the team to really believe in itself." "Clearly, to reach the biggest goal everything has to fit and we are aware of that." he added.

    Furthermore, Germany boasts of two mature and experienced goalkeepers. Lehmann, 36, led Arsenal into the Champions League final this year by not conceding a goal in his last 10 games. His red card in the final against Barcelona was the main reason for Gunners' regrettable failure. Kahn, also 36, had taken Germany to the 2002 World Cup final with his brilliant form.

    Germany will open the World Cup against Costa Rica on June 9 in Munich, face Poland five days later in Dortmund, and meet Ecuador in Berlin on June 20.

    Geographically, Poland, Germany's neighbor who finished third in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, will have a bit more chance to survive the group A than Costa Rica and Ecuador from the remote American Continent.

    And both German strikers Klose and Podolski were born in Poland, which makes the Germany-Poland clash a subtle game. Although many Poles hope that their team will beat Germany to rewrite the no-winhead-to-head results, one point is satisfactory and may be enough for qualifying the group.

    Poland's coach Pawel Janas said,"Progressing beyond the first stage is our minimum scenario. We definitely can't afford to concentrate exclusively on the Germans. The games against Costa Rica and Ecuador have to be very important."

    Poland, who also finished third in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, suffered an embarrassing first-round exit in 2002 in South Korea where they were humiliated 4-0 by Portugal and 2-0 by South Korea before a consolation 3-1 win over the United States.

    Under Janas' guide, Poland won eight out of 10 games to qualify behind England in European Group Six and they looked good in recent friendlies.

    Poland's rising star Ebi Smolarek, 25, playing for Borussia Dortmund, is among the top six scorers in the Bundesliga with 13 goals. Chosen as the best Polish player of 2005 by Poland's "Football" weekly, Smolarek, who left Poland when he was six and still has some trouble in speaking Polish fluently, will be the lethal weapon for Janas' side.

    For Ecuador, who had already appeared in Korea/Japan World Cup finals four years ago, nobody should be surprised if they end up spoiling the party this time. Having sealed their place by leaving Paraguay and Uruguay in their wake in the extremely competitive South American Zone, Ecuador will be afraid of no-one.

    Likewise, they will have learned from their disappointing showing in 2002 and will be eager to demonstrate their tidy passing game and attacking capabilities as they strive for a berthin the last 16. Their task will not be easy, however, particularlybecause their best results have all tended to come at home. Performing on foreign soil has been a problem in the past and one they will need to address before their crucial first match against Poland in Gelsenkirchen.

    Ecuador's key player is Ivan Hurtado who holds the South American record for playing in World Cup qualifying matches with 57 appearances. A skilful, ball-playing center-half, the 31-year-old is renowned as a good organizer with impeccable positioning who times his tackles to perfection. Now, he is playing in Qatar with Al arabi following earlier stints in Spain and Mexico.

    Costa Rica has already showed themselves capable of causing an upset in 1990. In 2002, they were drawn with Brazil, Turkey and China in Group C. Although they beat China, tied Turkey and lost to Brazil, earning the same points with Turkey, but they were out for less goals.

    Costa Rica's eye-catching point is their coach Alexandre Guimaraes, a popular former international who played at the 1990 World Cup. Born in Brazil but moved to Costa Rica at the age of 11, Guimaraes is expected to stick with the 4-4-2 system favored by his predecessor, Jorge Luis Pinto, but may well experiment with the 3-5-2 formation he used in the past.

    Costa Rica's key player is Paolo Wanchope, who had played for Derby, West Ham and Manchester City in England and Malaga in Spain. He is Costa Rica's all-time leading scorer with 43 goals but his appearances have been restricted by a string of serious knee injuries. Enditem