http://www.relicnews.com/articles/company-of-heroes-2-multiplayer-hands-on/#ToC
I guess the wording isn't quite as clear as I had remembered. Here is the relevant bit.
In a very surprising development as stands it’s actually possible to play as both German and Soviet on both sides of a team game, allowing German & Soviet vs Soviet and German teams. This was an option missing from the original presumably for authenticity reasons and when questioned if this would remain in the retail game I was told that it was possible, but potentially only as a feature of non-ranked custom games. It’s still up in the air, but apparently as stands will be part of the upcoming beta test for the game.