The Germany team, according to Martin Harnik, the Austria forward, are “s****ing their pants” in advance of their showdown in Vienna this evening. Michael Ballack, the Germany captain, naturally put it a little differently, but he did admit that voices had been raised and tensions had risen as he and his teammates held a private meeting away from their coaching staff at their camp on the shores of Lake Maggiore, in Switzerland.

A draw would be enough for Germany to progress to the quarter-finals and, against an Austria team ranked No 92 in the world, it is difficult to imagine that they could fall short. Yet, just as the Austrian public and players are starting to believe that the impossible could happen – drawing inspiration from a victory over their neighbours in Córdoba, Argentina, in the 1978 World Cup finals – so has anxiety begun to filter into the German ranks since their comprehensive 2-1 defeat by Croatia in Klagenfurt last Thursday.

To judge from the quote attributed to Harnik in a Viennese newspaper at the weekend, Germany are more than apprehensive. Josef Hickersberger, the Austria coach, censured Harnik for his “low remarks”, saying that they had created “useless animosity”, but Ballack, the Chelsea midfield player, acknowledged that there were tensions around the Germany squad, with the players meeting on Saturday evening to discuss various issues away from Joachim Löw, the coach.

Ballack had hinted at such strains immediately after Thursday’s match, saying that some of his teammates thought they had “already achieved something” by beating Poland 2-0 in their opening game. Miroslav Klose, the Bayern Munich forward, added that some players were “thinking only of themselves”. Subsequently, reports in Germany have suggested that Löw’s decision to invite the players’ wives and girlfriends to the team hotel on Friday, the day after the Croatia game, had gone down badly with some senior players. Either way, it does not sound like the happiest of camps.

“Everybody is a bit tense after the Croatia match,” Ballack said yesterday. “That is normal. Football is not always harmonious. The voices in the team have got louder and people have been giving their opinion, but it is all constructive. It’s normal to be able to give your opinion loud and clear.

“It was not a crisis meeting. It was a football meeting, to clear the air. We discussed our performance and our attitude. The details will remain between us. It had nothing to do with the coach. We can have such a talk without the coach being around. What is important is that it is positive and aimed at the success of the side and, most important of all, that a reaction comes from it.”

A draw may guarantee the Germans a quarter-final place, but it would not, Ballack said, be an acceptable result. “The situation is that we have to win,” he said, “otherwise everything we have done over the past four years will be questioned. We know that.”

Austria, by contrast, have nothing to lose. As co-hosts, they were in danger of bowing out of the tournament without even a whimper as they trailed Poland 1-0 in Vienna on Thursday, but a last-minute penalty, awarded in controversial circumstances by Howard Webb, the English referee, and converted by Ivica Vastic, has generated a wave of patriotic fervour and a belief that Austria could progress at their neighbours’ expense, by emulating their famous 3-2 triumph over West Germany in 1978.

Germany may have chosen to base themselves in Switzerland, a few miles from the Italian border, but they claim to be fully aware of the excitement that is building in Austria.

“It will be tough, with a full stadium and the home fans getting behind their team,” Ballack said. “But we knew this would be the case before the tournament began. It would have been nice to be sitting here already qualified for the knockout stage, but that is not the case and now we need to put our foot down.”

Austria (possible; 4-4-2): J Macho – G Garics, M Hiden, M Stranzl, E Pogatetz – C Leitgeb, R Aufhauser, A Ivanschitz, U Korkmaz – M Harnik, R Linz.

Germany (possible; 4-4-2): J Lehmann – C Fritz, C Metzelder, P Mertesacker, P Lahm – T Borowski, T Frings, M Ballack, T Hitzlsperger – M Klose, L Podolski. Referee: M E Mejuto González (Spain).

Television: Live on BBC One from 7.30pm (kick-off 7.45pm).