World Cup Round of 16: Germany v. Algeria

With Germany one of the favourites to win the whole tournament and Algeria not even favoured to get out of their own group, this is one of the more unbalanced ties of the Round of 16. Despite starting the tournament brightly against Portugal, Germany haven't yet kicked into the higher gear they'll need to go all the way. Rumours of discord in the dressing room grow over Jogi Löw's challenge to balance the minutes played by his key midfielders, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira. It all adds up to a team not being entirely together yet, which could be the weak spot for Algeria to exploit.

What Algeria lack in comparative quality in their squad, they make up for with a thirst for vengeance, if you're into that sort of narrative. The talking point you'll most likely hear prior to kick-off is about the alleged collusion between Austria and West Germany at the 1982 World Cup that saw Algeria shut out of advancing to the Round of 16 despite sitting second after their third match of the group stage, played prior to Austria's and West Germany's own third match. Despite the fact that only two of Germany's players were alive at the time (one of whom was still living in Poland), the match sets up as an opportunity for Algerian revenge more than thirty years later.

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