IN THE course of interviews in the last fortnight, your correspondent asked five players - Liberian George Weah, Montenegrin Dejan Savicevic, Italian Filippo Galli (all ABC Milan) and Italians Pier Luigi Casiraghi and Luca Marchegiani (both Lazio) - for predictions about this summer's European Championship finals in England.
Not surprisingly, no two players came up with the same answer. Galli suggested Spain as an outsider. Casiraghi argued that home advantage would help England. Suvicevic tipped Italy. Marchegiani looked to Holland.
On one country, however, all five are agreed. It is, of course, a cliche to start any major soccer tournament assessment with Germany, but since Germany are the most successful European side of the post war period (World champions in 54, 74, 90 and European champions in 72 and 80), all tournament analyses begin with them.
While Euro 96 is still 10 weeks away, analysts will be working overtime this week when no fewer than 13 of the 16 finalists (Italy, Spain and Holland are the exceptions) play warm up friendlies. No side will be more scrutinised than Germany, drawn in a toughlooking Group C in England along with the Czech Republic, Italy and Russia. Tomorrow, the Germans host Denmark in Munich.
Germany, 1996 vintage, seem to be worryingly similar to Germany, 1994 vintage. Two years ago, critics accused coach Berti Vogts of having done little to introduce new blood into a team which was still backboned by Franz Beckenbauer's 1990 World Cup winners.
As he approaches Euro 96, Vogts has come in for similar criticism. Germany rely too heavily on Juergen Klinsmann's goals, Thomas Haessler in midfield and on Juergen Koehler and Stefan Reuter in defence the critics say. Furthermore, 35 year old Lothar Matthaeus still believes he can win himself a place in the German team this summer.
Matthaeus captained the 1990 World Cup winning side, a team which also featured Klinsmann, Haessler, Kohler and Reuter. Is German soccer in trouble, still forced to rely on the talents of a group of thirty somethings. Juergen Klinsmann rejects the criticism.
"I don't see any crisis. The fact that there are a number of over 30s in the national team is explained by the greater professionalism of today's players and by improved medical and dietary assistance as well as improved training methods . . ."
Matthaeus dismisses the criticism, too. "We have brought new players into the team. To begin with, there are the former East German players (i.e. Matthias Sammer), while there are promising young players such as Christian Ziege and Markus Bubbel in the German squad.
In part, Klinsmann and Matthaeus are correct. Andreas Koepke in goal, Sammer, Ziege and Babbel indefence, Andreas Moeller, Mario Basler and Dieter Elts in midfield represent a different generation from that of Italia 90.
Yet those who watched Germany's progress through qualifying group seven (eight wins, a 3-2 defeat by Bulgaria and a 1-1 home draw with Wales) argue that it was the older generation who provided the decisive edge.
Klinsmann is not troubled by this argument. "We're among the favourites and deserve to be just as long as we continue to play the way we're playing at the moment. Our team spirit is right we're all Ia in for one another, and we have some very talented individuals.
"For me Summer is the best libero in the world at the moment, while our midfield is very strong with players like Moeller, Haessler and Basler. We've got five or six players who can win a game."
Matthaeus, in a comeback season following surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon, might appear a long shot for the German team. However, he believes that even though the libero position is Summer's, his experience could make him useful in midfield.
A final worrying thought for Germany's opponents is that Vogts is very hungry for success. He is in the unusual position, for a German coach, of having competed in two championship tournaments (Sweden 92 and USA 94) without winning anything. Perhaps Euro 96 will set his record right.
