Preview: Germany v Poland

The hosts suffered their only defeat (25-27) of the tournament so far against the Poles in the group stages, and are keen to put that right, and capture their third handball world title.

For Germany boss Heiner Brand, it is an opportunity to become the first person to win Handball's biggest prize both as a player (he was part of the 1978 World Cup wining team) and as a coach, thus emulating his idol Franz Beckenbauer, who achieved the same feat in football.

"Of course it would be wonderful if it happened," Brand said, though he warned against the dangers of taking victory against Poland for granted.

"They thoroughly deserve [to be in the final]. So they must have a strong team," he reasoned. "I am expecting a close game."

Left winger Dominik Klein insisted his team would have to call up another performance of the magnitude that saw them defeat France in a double overtime thriller on Wednesday, if they are to take the final step.

"We will have to play out of our skins one more time," he said. "In the back of our minds is the thought that we have the chance to write our names in the history books."

Masterminding the Polish challenge though is Bogdan Wenta, who possesses an encyclopaedic knowledge of the German game, as he is also the coach of Bundesliga side Magdeburg.

"It is just a normal game,"o he said after his team's training session. "The only thing that counts at the end is the result."

Poland left back Marcin Lijewski was bullish about his side's chances, insisting: "We want to show once more that we are the better team."

Their main threat is likely to come once again from Magdeburg star Karol Bielecki, who scored seven goals in the win over Germany in the group stages, and eight goals in the semi-final victory over Denmark.

Victory for either team would see them automatically qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, as well as the 2009 World Championships in Croatia, though it is the thought of holding aloft the giant trophy in Cologne on Sunday afternoon that will be uppermost in the player's minds until the final.