Germany Vs Spain Match Preview

VIENNA, June 27 (Reuters) - Spain can end a 44-year wait to be crowned European champions if they reproduce the same form in Sunday's final against Germany that they showed to beat Russia 3-0 in the semi-final on Thursday.

Germany, in contrast, will have to play far better than they did in their 3-2 semi-final win over Turkey in Basel on Wednesday if they are to win the title for the fourth time.

Despite that dip in form against the Turks, Germany were outstanding in their quarter-final victory over Portugal and a double over the Iberian countries would give them the European crown for the first time since 1996.

An outstanding tournament has produced two worthy finalists at the Ernst Happel stadium who should cap three glorious weeks of soccer with a fitting finale.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said his team would be able to enjoy the final after playing through the pressure of two knockout rounds in Basel.

'The pressure we've been under is now off to a certain extent,' Loew said at a news conference on Thursday.

'We're in the final now and we have a lot to win on Sunday.'

He said, though, that the six-day gap without a match between their quarter and semi-finals deprived them of their momentum.

'I think it's better when you play every three or four days. The long break before the Turkey game didn't do us any good,' he admitted.

Loew is likely to stick with the 4-5-1 formation that served them so well against Portugal and, in the end, saw them sneak home against Turkey.

The one difference in the side is likely to be the return of Torsten Frings, who missed the Portugal game after cracking a rib in the team's final Group B game against Austria and had to be content with a substitute's role against Turkey.

Frings did well when coming on for the second half against the Turks when he replaced the injured Simon Rolfes.

There will be key battles all over the field, but the most fascinating will be in midfield between Germany captain Michael Ballack and Spain's Cesc Fabregas, who is expected to start because David Villa is likely to miss out with a foot injury.

'We've made it and now everybody is expecting us to do something big,' Fabregas said after Spain beat Russia.

Spanish coach Luis Aragones, who turns 70 next month and was the oldest of the 16 coaches that began the tournament, will be taking charge of Spain for the last time on Sunday.

It will be Spain's first final since losing to France in Paris in the 1984 European Championship.

Despite decades of producing great players, Spain's only major tournament victory came at the 1964 European Championship when they beat Russia's predecessors, the Soviet Union, in the final in Madrid.

Germany will also be hoping to end an odd sequence that has seen them win and lose finals alternately. After winning in 1972, they lost in 1976, before winning again in 1980, losing in 1992 and winning again in 1996.

Despite those defeats, their impressive overall major tournament history is a powerful motivating factor for them, as is Spain's for Aragones's men -- for very different reasons.