Baia doubtful for German clash

PORTUGAL goalkeeper Vitor Baia has flu and could miss today's vital World Cup Group Nine qualifier against Germany in Lisbon.

Team doctor Bargao Santos said the Barcelona goalkeeper spent the afternoon in bed in his hotel room while his team mates held their last training session. "Baia's condition is a worry to us," Santos said. We'll do all we can to make him ready for the match, but for now I can't say whether he will recover in time."

Portugal, the only team to beat Germany in a World Cup qualifier, are desperate for history to repeat itself when they face the European champions.

The Portuguese, who beat Germany 1-0 away 11 years ago, lead Group Nine with seven points, one more than Ukraine who have a match in hand, and three ahead of Germany, who have two games in hand.

Coach Artur Jorge has recalled Porto's diminutive but highly experienced attacking midfielder Rui Barros to give pace to a side that has impressed but failed to score many goals.

"He is very fast and likes to get into the box," said Jorge about the one big change from the team that dominated Ukraine in a qualifying match in Oporto last month but still only won 1-0.

Portugal will also be without central defender Jorge Costa who has not played since Liberian striker George Weah broke his nose in an incident following a Porto AC Milan European Champions' League game last month.

In contrast, Germany arrived in Portugal with a number of big names missing through injury or illness from their line up. But coach Berti Vogts said the absence of top players, including midfielder Thomas Haessler and defenders Thomas Helmer and Thomas Strunz, would be no excuse if the Germans failed to improve on a poor display against Northern Ireland last month when they were held to a 1-1 home draw.

German confidence will be boosted by the return of libero Matthias Sammer, making his first appearance for the national side since the Euro 96 final last June.

Vogts's main dilemma is whether to replace Haessler with Werder Bremen's gifted but erratic and often outspoken midfielder Mario Basler, or whether to push forward Bayern Munich wing back Christian Ziege into midfield.

The Dutch and the Belgians must be sick of the sight of each other. Today's Group Seven clash will be the eighth World Cup in which the neighbours have crossed swords since their first encounter in the tournament in 1934 when Holland won 4-2.

It will be the 118th meeting between the two sides and the Dutch, who have won 53 times to Belgium's 39, sense victory again. "There's absolutely no reason to be afraid," said Dutch defender Frank de Boer. "We should be able to beat Belgium."

Spain and Yugoslavia, who clash in a Group Six match in Valencia today, also know each other better than most. This is the sixth World Cup in which they have been matched, all of them since 1970. Added to that, eight of the Yugoslav squad play against Spaniards week in week out for their club sides.

Striker Pedrag Mijatovic could find himself face to face with Read Madrid team mate Rafael Alkorta, Atletico Madrid's Kiko Narvaez and Milinko Pantic will be on opposite sides, and Deportivo Coruna's Miroslav Djukic may be up against club team mate Javier Manjarin.

If history is anything to go by Yugoslavia have the most to fear today. Their 2-1 win over Spain in the 1990 finals in Italy the last time the two sides met in the competition - was their first World Cup triumph over the Spanish in nine matches.

Meanwhile, Wales will be trying to block out the nightmare of last month's hammering in Holland when they tackle Turkey in Cardiff today. Wales endured a humiliating 7-1 defeat against the Dutch in Eindhoven but are confident they can kick start their World Cup dream with a win against the Turks.