 Coming into the match, Germany looked to have an uphill task to beat Brazil, as although they had scored fourteen goals by the time of the final, eight of those goals were scored against Saudi Arabia, and the Europeans were coming off back to back to back 1-0 wins.Adding to the German hardship, midfielder Michael Ballack who scored the winning goals in both the Quarterfinal against the United States and the Semi Final against South Korea, would miss the game due to a suspension.Still, the Germans could take solace in their shot stopper Oliver Kahn who was in the midst of what is considered one of the greatest individual World Cup performances of all time.