KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7: World number one Australia and Asia’s top-ranked Korea face a fight over the remaining berth in the final of the Champions Trophy against Germany this weekend.

Whoever takes the spot will have to accept underdog status since world champions Germany cruised into the final after defeating all its opponents here.

With one match to play, they have scored 21 goals in six matches and have also been solid in defence, letting in only 10 so far.

Australian coach Barry Dancer said his team may not only miss the final but not even contend for the third-fourth playoff if they fail to beat Germany in their last tie.

“We have plenty of motivation to beat Germany in our final round robin match even if other results mean we can’t make Sunday’s final. A win is very important because a defeat may mean we even miss the third-fourth playoff tie,” Dancer said.

Australia enters Saturday’s decisive round of games one point behind second-place Korea on 11 points. A win for Korea would secure that second spot and a place in the final against Germany, which has 16 points from a possible 18 and an unassailable lead.Korea on Saturday faces Britain, who have not performed well and are still smarting from a 5-0 whipping by Spain on Wednesday.

Australia must now hope that Britain either draw or defeat the Koreans, and that they then beat Germany to book a place in Sunday’s final.

With just three points separating second from fifth, Australia could fall to as low as fifth if they lose to Germany, and the Netherlands and Spain each win their final game.

“Our target will be to beat Germany. Hopefully, the result before will give us an opportunity to get into the final,” Dancer said.

Australia’s World Cup defeat in 2006 to Germany still brings back painful memories for the team. In that final match, Australia led 3-1 at one stage but lost 4-3 after sudden death extra time.

Germany also had a 2-1 series win over Australia early in the year.

But German coach Markus Weise said his side may not be at their best when they meet Australia in the all-important tie.

“Mentally we may be switched off and against Australia it is difficult to say how we will play... If they try very hard, it is going to be very difficult for us.”

Korean coach Cho Myung-Jun said his players would not slip up and that a victory for them means the rest of the results do not matter.

“No more mistakes,” said Cho. “Against Britain, we want to win and we can beat them. My players are confident and they know they have a job to do and I expect them to finish it well.

“We cannot lose our way like we did against Pakistan,” he said, referring to when they led 3-1 but finished 3-3. “This time, we take the lead and keep it like that until the end.”—AFP