The Germans face the African champions in Jeju on Wednesday with a quarter-final place at stake.
After an evening training session on Monday, Streichsbier predicted a tough fixture against the Zambians but added that the match could go either way.
Germany only sneaked into the second round on goal difference and Streichsbier attributed his team's struggles to poor preparations.
"Everybody in Germany knows it was a problem for us to have a team because of the dates," he said.
"We are missing two players, it was not possible to have a complete team.
"We must work with the players that we have and find a plan. They are good players."
The Europeans finished on four points in Group B after registering one win over Vanuatu, a goalless draw with Mexico and a 2-0 defeat to Venezuela.
But Streichsbier said their qualification travails should not be used against them as they seek to progress to the next stage of the competition.
"I think in a play-off game, it's always 50-50, it doesn't matter if the first three games were okay.
"Maybe Zambia has a better feeling because they won two games but after 90 minutes, one team stays in the tournament, the other has to go.
"We know we have to bring our very good performance to have a chance of going to the next round."
Streichsbier singled out forwards Fashion Sakala and Patson Daka and midfielder Enock Mwepu as the players to watch when the two teams meet on Wednesday.
He also acknowledged that not many people in Germany expect his team to return home with the trophy.
"Nobody in Germany thinks we can win the World Cup, but we must do everything possible to stay as long as we can in the tournament," he said.
Germany coach Guido Streichsbier rates his team's chances of beating Zambia at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup as no better than 50-50.