Ziege: Now it's showdown time

Just as the German team coach approached Tirana airport, the news of the strike by Paul Scholes in Athens had filtered through to Rudi Voeller's squad.

By the time they landed in Frankfurt, they knew all about David Beckham's clinching goal.

And as Christian Ziege predicted, the big World Cup showdown will now be in Munich on 1 September.

"To be honest, it didn't matter what the England result was in Greece," he said after his side won 2-0 against Albania. "The Germany-England game was always going to be the decisive one and we are expecting nothing less than a very hard and tough game."

It has not gone unnoticed by Ziege and his team-mates that England, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, are a different proposition than the one under Kevin Keegan which were beaten 1-0 last October at Wembley.

"They are organised and they have some very gifted players," said Ziege.

Ziege played his part last night at the Quemel Stafa stadium in the German victory that was more functional than flamboyant. But just which club he will be representing when England come to Bavaria is still unclear and Ziege wants to sort out his future with Liverpool as soon as possible.

"I know there is some interest in me from Tottenham and I have been told there has been an offer for me from them," said Ziege. "But first I have to speak to Gerard Houllier, my manager at Liverpool, about what he thinks about my situation and then I can think about other things."

Clearly, though, Ziege does not want to repeat his experiences of last season when he was a fringe figure in Liverpool's triple trophy triumph in the Worthington, FA and UEFA Cups and the successful quest for Champions League football. He wants regular first team football and if Houllier is unable to give that assurance, then he could become another major signing for Glenn Hoddle at White Hart Lane.

Back on the international front, the 29-year-old wingback expressed his delight at the win against a gutsy but limited Albanian side that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests. Goals in either half from Marko Rehmer and Michael Ballack were the decisive strikes.