Eight years ago they beat the Czechs 2-1 with a 'golden goal' at Wembley to win Euro 96.

After two undistinguished draws in Portugal they need a repeat of that performance to avoid going home from Euro 2004 after the group phase, a fate they suffered four years ago.

It will be a formidable task, however, even if the Czechs, who have already claimed a quarter-final spot with wins over Latvia and the Netherlands, field a weakened team.

Germany's players have shown no fear of failure in the build-up to the match, remaining cool, calm and collected as they set about joining the Czechs in the last eight.

Experienced midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who suffered the bitter disappointment of four years ago when Germany lost to England and Portugal and drew with Romania, is certain there will not be a similar failure.

"This is not the same at all," said the Liverpool player. "This is a different team. The atmosphere is a lot better and the team is a tighter unit with all the players standing closely together."

Hamann's optimism is supported by the views of German coach Rudi Voellerm, despite criticism of his side's limited creativity and lack of goals.

"I believe in my players," said Voeller. "I would put my hand in the fire for them and I'm convinced we will go further in this tournament.

"The difference between now and Euro 2000 is that this time our fate is in our own hands. The situation is quite clear," he said. "We have to win and I believe we can."

He added that just because the Czechs are resting players, including midfield inspiration Pavel Nedved, that did not make the task any less demanding.

"I could show you the tape of the final Euro 2000 group game," he said, referring to the 3-0 defeat by Portugal's second string that sent Germany home.

In addition to Nedved, Jan Koller, Karel Poborsky and Tomas Rosicky are all expected to be rested while Tomas Galasek, who is carrying a yellow card, will also be left out as the Czech's wily coach Karel Brueckner plans for the quarter-finals.

Voeller, who used two strikers in the dismal 0-0 draw with Latvia, is expected to revert to a more compact system with only one striker, as used against the Netherlands.

That may mean that Bernd Schneider, who looked lost against Latvia, will be replaced by 19-year-old Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Probable teams:

Germany (4-5-1) - 1-Oliver Kahn; 3-Arne Friedrich, 4-Christian Woerns, 5-Jens Nowotny, 21-Philipp Lahm; 8-Dietmar Hamann, 6-Frank Baumann; 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 13-Michael Ballack, 22-Torsten Frings; 10-Kevin Kuranyi.

Czech Republic (4-4-2) - 16-Jaromir Blazek; 17-Tomas Hubschman, 21-Tomas Ujfalusi, 5-Rene Bolf, 13-Martin Jiranek; 20-Jaroslav Plasil, 19-Roman Tyce, 7-Vladimir Smicer, 14-Stepan Vachousek; 18-Marek Heinz, 15-Milan Baros.