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Nani unafraid of meeting Germany in Euro 2012 group stage
Posted Friday, May 18, 2012 by Goal.com

Nani unafraid of meeting Germany in Euro 2012 group stage

Portugal winger Nani is not afraid to play against Germany in the Euro 2012 group stage.

Die Mannschaft sent the Portuguese packing in the Euro 2008 quarter-final series and are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Poland and Ukraine, but the Manchester United man thinks that Joachim Low's men respect his side's ability.

"If we are feeling anxiety, they will feel it too, because they will be playing against Portugal," he told reporters.

"They know who they will be playing against and what Portugal have.

"I have been hearing a lot of things about Germany, Netherlands and Denmark, but they must have heard about Portugal, too.

"Germany have an excellent team, I have to admit, we have to be humble and respect them, but they will have to respect us too.

"We will not want to make life easy for them, we will not want to let them play their game and we will try to play our own."

Nani was expected to play a key role for Portugal at World Cup 2010, but he sustained an injury in the build-up to the tournament which forced him to miss the campaign in South Africa.

"I am more experienced now, of course I will not make the same mistakes," the United ace declared.

"I will try to be well prepared to be in the best possible shape as soon as the competition starts."

Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia