Germany's Philipp Lahm, left, Bastian Schweinsteiger, center, and Lukas Podolski practice ball skills during a team training session. - AP Photo
DURBAN: Australia is braced for a tough start to its World Cup campaign when it takes on three-time champion Germany in their Group D opener on Sunday.
“Is there ever a good time to play Germany? I don’t think so,” defender Lucas Neill said. “I don’t think they’ve lost their last five or six opening games in a World Cup.”
Germany captain Philipp Lahm said his team wants an emphatic win to prove it is capable of a title challenge even without influential captain Michael Ballack.
Australia coach Pim Verbeek said Ballack’s absence with a right ankle injury would benefit the Socceroos.
“There is no doubt if you lose a player like Ballack it is a loss for them,” Verbeek said.
“Its also a loss for the World Cup because my feeling is the best players in the world should be at the World Cup. So it’s a pity for them, a pity for the rest of the world and maybe not so bad for us.”
Underdog Australia is appearing in only its third World Cup, but Germany coach Joachim Loew is taking nothing for granted when the teams meet at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
“We can go in with confidence, but we have respect for Australia,” Loew said. “It’s a well-organized team. Not spectacular, but they work hard, they have exceptional organization, good passing, they are incredible physically and they have almost perfect defense organization.”
Even so, Loew added, “We want to be able to embarrass opponents with our playing skills.”
Doubts persist over the strength of Australia’s defense. Center backs Craig Moore and Neill struggled to contain the United States’ forwards in a 3-1 warmup loss. Fullbacks Scott Chipperfield and Luke Wilkshire are converted midfielders who are more comfortable raiding forward than tackling back.
Australia, which faces more tough opposition in the form of Ghana and Serbia in their other two Group D matches, is built on the nucleus of a 2006 World Cup goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, forward Harry Kewell and his Galatasaray teammate Neill, plus Everton midfielder Tim Cahill.
Cahill is fit again after recovering from a neck injury and Kewell has recovered from the latest bout of his chronic groin problems.
“I have 23 players fully fit, so perfect timing,” Verbeek said.
While Cahill is a certain starter, Australia is less likely to deploy Kewell for 90 minutes.
“The medical staff are happy the way I’m traveling. Pim is very happy with the way things are going,” Kewell said. “I can’t make his mind up for him.”
The Germans will pay close attention to Cahill, who has a prolific strike rate for a midfielder of 20 goals in 40 internationals.
The German defenders had their own video session focussed solely on Cahill, who burst onto the World Cup stage in 2006 by scoring twice in the dying minutes as Australia rallied from 1-0 down to beat Japan 3-1.
Neill, who described Sunday’s match as “probably the toughest game in our short history of the world cup,” said focussing solely on Cahill could play into Australia’s hands.
“Rightly so the Germans have targeted Tim, he’s a fantastic talent,” he said. “But maybe that will allow the other 10 players in the team to go about their duty. Our team doesn’t rely on one player, our team relies on every player and that’s why we’re a good team.”
Neill said Australia’s team is drawing on its heartache in Germany four years ago, when it reached the second round only to be knocked out by eventual champion Italy on a disputed injury time penalty.
“The way that ended, kept us all hungry, wanting to come back and experience it again,” he said.
Loew has reshaped Germany since being runner-up in the 2008 European Championship and is the second youngest German World Cup squad ever. Six of his players have progressed from the team that won the European under-21 title last year.
Germany forward Lukas Podolski believes he could be the man to exploit any breaches in the Socceroos’ defense, despite scoring only two Bundesliga goals this season.
“I played a good tournament the last time and the last few games for Germany were good for me. I hope to pick up where I left off,” said Podolski, who was named young player of the 2006 World Cup. “I’ve been training well, I feel good.” – AP
