Erich Ribbeck, the German coach, is approaching what could be the final hours of his troubled term of office.

Unless his side defeat Portugal in Rotterdam this evening, Germany will be eliminated in the first phase of the competition for the first time since it was restructured. And for a proud footballing nation which has contested six major championship finals in the last 20 years, that would be the final irrefutable evidence of the decline of one of the game's superpowers.

Even three points tonight will not be enough to defer their abrupt departure if England avoid defeat against Romania.

Ribbeck started this championship under intense criticism for his selection of Lothar Matthaus. Now the question is less one of whether the 39-year-old defender can last the pace than the ability of players like Jens Jeremies and Mehmet Scholl to open the supply routes to Carsten Jancker up front.

For Portugal, there is the comfort of knowing that irrespective of the result, they will still top the group. That may well persuade their coach, Humberto Coelho, to seize the opportunity of playing a changed formation before proceeding to a quarter-final tie at Amsterdam on Saturday.