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Germany's national soccer coach Joachim Loew (C) gives instructions to his players during a training session at the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre. Reuters

Porto Alegre will be the site for the Round-of-16 clash between Algeria and Germany on June 30. A win against S. Korea and a tie against Russia was enough to see the Algerians through to the knockout rounds. While Germany did what was expected; coming out top in the “Group of Death”, beating Portugal and the US, while tying Ghana. Germany will by far be the favorites coming in, but undermining “The Fennec Foxes” will not be part of their game plan.

“We have had great teams in the past and this squad has great potential, but we have to take it a round at a time and play aggressively. I think we are the better team, but we have to prove that on the pitch." Those were the words from captain Philipp Lahm in Germany’s press conference. This should be a game that the Germans should win. Their talent and experience far supersedes that of the Algerians, and they will be at it from the moment the whistle blows. The one injury update from the German camp is that Lukas Podolski has been ruled out as he picked up a knock in the game against the Americans.

Many people are not aware that Algeria beat West Germany at the 1982 World Cup 2-1. And as anyone knows, anything can happen in this sport. The Algerians may not have the big name players that we know about, but they play very well together and are extremely organized in the back. Coach Vahid Halilhodzic knows what awaits his team, but he is surely relishing the opportunity stating, “I love it as a coach to see my team fighting like this. [Germany] are a huge team. It’s going to be very complicated for us. We are small Algeria against big Germany.” The Algerians have a very tall task ahead of them, but having nothing to lose can play into their advantage.

The game is set to kick off at 4PM EST and can be seen on ESPN and Univision. It will also be available via stream here, on WatchESPN. If you prefer to live stream the match in Spanish, it can be seen here. Be sure to check into this one, as “Die Mannschaft” will surely be looking to swipe aside “The Fennec Foxes” in search of another quarterfinal appearance.

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