HIROSHIMA (FIBA World Championship) - The Hiroshima Green Arena will be packed as tournament hosts Japan tip off their 2006 FIBA World Championship against heavily favoured Germany in the Group B opener.

The Japanese hope to give the 2002 bronze medallists a run for their money, returning to the World Championship for the first time since 1998. The teams are facing each other for the first time in international play and Japan will undoubtedly receive a boost from the home fans.

But coach Zeljko Pavlicevic knows his Japanese team is under-manned, especially against Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki

"Who can stop Nowitzki in the end?" the Croatian asked, helplessly.

Pavlicevic questioned what happened to the German squad in their final warmup match, a 84-47 drubbing by Greece in the final of the Stankovic Cup. But he said reviewing tapes of that game would be of little use.

"It's easy to scout a team, but you have to have the players to play," he said.

German coach Dirk Bauermann is looking to build upon the magical run from last summer, when Nowitzki carried the team to the gold medal game before losing to the Greeks in Belgrade. Bauermann said Nowitzki is nearing his usual self, but he still has room for improvement.

"He's come a long way since he re-joined the team. The games have helped him and the training as well. I expect he's going to improve over the course of the tournament," the coach said.

The Europeans also are aware how difficult it will be playing the hosts to start the tournament.

"The place will be packed and they'll all have their headbands and going crazy. That's a very difficult situation to be in. We have to be careful not to lose our concentration and slip up," said Bauermann, who admitted he would ideally like to have his team win all five group matches.

The match-ups to watch will be how Kosuke Takeuchi deals with Nowitzki at the power forward spot and to see if German center Patrick Femerling can take advantage of his superior height against the smaller Japanese big men.

Neither team has injury concerns coming into the game.

Angola vs Panama

HIROSHIMA (FIBA World Championship) - Angola and Panama also face off for the first time in history in an important battle for both teams.

With the top two spots in the groups likely up for grabs between Spain and Germany, that leaves just two spots for the four remaining teams, leaving a victory in this game that much more important.

Angola power forward Joaquim Gomes admitted he would have rather played either Spain or Germany instead of a direct contender like Panana in the opener.

"It would be better if we could play a bigger team first to get them out of the way. But if we can get a win, we could build some confidence," Gomes said.

Panama coach Guillermo Vecchio said his team is ready to take on all competitors, even going so far as to call his squad a darkhorse candidate for the tournament.

"I know starting from the jump ball that all players, all nations will be the same. Starting against Angola, Spain or Germany it's the same to us. It will be tough for both teams. Angola are very disciplined. But maybe we can be the surprise of the tournament," said the Argentinian native, who took over as Panama coach two months ago.

Gomes said Angola must work very hard, especially against the strong Panama front court players.

"We have to play hard and smart. We can't give them second shots. They're bigger and taller than us. Otherwise it's going to be a long day," he said.

The key for Panama, Vecchio said, will be starting point guard Ed Cota.

"He's a coach on the floor. I feel really eased when he takes control of the game," Vecchio said of Cota. "He's really tough on the floor and a leader. He's the driver for the big dream we have."

Panama arrived in Japan Thursday and were running through their first practice in Hiroshima Friday afternoon.

Spain vs New Zealand

HIROSHIMA (FIBA World Championship) - Spain go into their opening match against New Zealand with big hopes for the tournament as they seem themselves as serious title contenders.

But coach Pepu Hernandez wants his team to concentrate on defensive rebounding against the Tall Blacks, who only lost 88-84 in the first round at the 2004 Olympics.

"We want to have an advantage with defensive rebounds because that will give us more fast breaks. And it's going to be difficult to stop us on the break when we're running," he said.

"Of course we also have to play intelligent and play aggressive if they give us easy shots and try to play some inside-outside.

Hernandez doesn't expect anything easy against Tab Baldwin's team, adding: "We have to do a good job and play with passion. I think we're going to play against a team that is passionate who will try to do their job and will not be nervous about playing against us."

Felipe Reyes sat out of practice Thursday with a neck problem, but Hernandez said the power forward will be available on Saturday.

"If we wanted to force him, he could have practiced. But there's no need for that," the coach said.

New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin said the 2002 semi-finalists are just raring to finally get going.

"You can really feel the expectation among the players now. They just want to get on with it," he said. "We've invested a lot and we know a lot of people are counting on us, and it's time to live up to that investment."

A matchup to watch will be how New Zealand guards Mark Dickel, Paul Henare and Kirk Penney can handle the quick Spanish backcourt of Juan Carlos Navarro and Jose Manuel Calderon.

New Zealand will also need a big game from power forward Pero Cameron, who will likely switch between guarding Pau Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa