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MIYAZAKI, Japan (AP) -- Germany, its morale bolstered by the 8-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia and a clean-sheet injury report, can become the first team to secure a place in the second round of the World Cup if its beats Ireland on Wednesday in Ibaraki. Any victory would assure Germany of finishing at least second in Group E and its proclaimed goal -- reaching the second round -- would have been accomplished. Can the Germans do more? "The quality of our team is such that we can hold our own against anyone," assistant coach Michael Skibbe said Monday. "We have to be better organized in defense than in warm-up games, we have to continue to be aggressive in midfield and win balls and I am sure we can do well. "Ireland plays like British teams, they are very robust, they are very well organized in defense and they have very fast forward players," Skibbe said. "I am convinced we'll win the game against Ireland," he said, adding that all players were fit and healthy. "We want to qualify and we want to be first in the group," midfielder Jens Jeremies said. The rout over hapless Saudi Arabia was Germany's biggest World Cup victory, but the team has been careful not to raise the expectations. All except for Skibbe, who predicted Germany would go to the July 1 final in Yokohoma -- and that prediction came before the Saudi match. The others are taking a less ambitious approach. No one is harboring any illusions of another easy victory, although Ireland is without captain Roy Keane, who was sent home after a dispute with coach Mick McCarthy. Without Keane, Ireland rallied to salvage a 1-1 draw against African champion Cameroon. Cameroon plays Saudi Arabia on Thursday in Saitama. "The Ireland team is very robust and they were tough in forcing a draw. They may have more respect for us after our 8-0, but surely they won't have fear," midfielder Bernd Schneider said. Team chief Rudi Voeller said the victory against the weak Saudis should be put into perspective. "We wanted a good start and the victory was good for our morale, we showed how good we are. But Ireland won't be impressed, and they are justified," Voeller said. Germany sank low at the Euro 2000, when it failed to win a match as defending champion. It lost 5-1 at home to England in qualifying and many Germans believed their team would not even clear the preliminary stage at the World Cup. Voeller and other team officials have been stressing for months that the team appeared to be coming out of its slump but said the goal was to reach the second round of the World Cup. Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given is hoping Germany has scored its quota of goals in the group stage. "After hearing that Germany had scored eight goals I never slept that night, so I just hope they have scored all of the goals they are going to score in this tournament," Given said. "Maybe they'll be a little bit overconfident after that game. "We are confident going into the game and they obviously are going to be confident because they just won 8-0, so this is going to be an extremely tough game, probably the toughest in the group. Obviously 8-0 was a bit of a shock but Germany are a top team and are always capable of doing that. "It proves they are one of the top teams in these finals because it takes a top team to score that many -- it doesn't matter who they are playing in the World Cup, if you win 8-0 you've got to be a quality team," Given said. Manager McCarthy said he was also surprised by the result, but wasn't worried. "I didn't expect anybody to get beat 8-0 or anybody to win 8-0 in a World Cup finals. But you can rest assured that nobody is going to dominate us for 90 minutes," he said. "I'd be stupid if I sat here and said I was daunted by it or scared by it, you'd think I was mad," McCarthy said. "I'm not. Germany are not better than Holland or Portugal, who we played in the qualifiers, and I personally don't think they are better than Cameroon. "I am not trying to be disrespectful to the German team because I think their results and performances since England beat them 5-1 have been better than England's. They came through the qualifiers against Ukraine quite comfortably and that was a tough tie for them. "They are in the tournament now, they have huge experience and you are playing against Germany -- there is something about that, like when teams go to Old Trafford, or Anfield, or Highbury and play against those big clubs. There is an aura about them in the competition," McCarthy said.
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