Group D: Review and Preview
By Rhys Turrell
Germany impressed the pundits in their opener against Australia
The first round of Group D fixtures gave us two winners, and those two sides will be looking to secure their progression to the knock out stages in their fixtures this Friday and Saturday afternoons. Group favourites Germany impressed many ‘expert’ pundits, and arguably gave the best performance of any side in the tournament’s first group games, whilst Ghana edged past Serbia thanks to a penalty in a tight and cautious game. Australia have a lot of work to do following their poor display against the Germans all of which must be done without star man Tim Cahill following his harsh sending off.
Looking at the Germany and Serbia clash on Friday, and it has to be said that the Germans again look likely to take the win – although perhaps not in quite the easy manner that saw them breeze past the Australians. Serbia proved against Ghana that they are strong and resolute at the back, but seemed to lack much finesse in the final third, and that would be there undoing over the 90 minutes, as the superior ‘Black Stars’ dominated the game, something they were aided in doing by the mindless red card received by Aleksandar Lukovic with quarter of an hour to go.
Serbia must be careful not to open up to much against the ruthless Germans, but will surely have to win the game to stand any realistic chance of getting out of the group.
Germany on the other hand will feel under less pressure to secure the win, but should be confident that their superior attacking outfit will prevail against the stoic Serbians. Memut Oezil – as predicted on Offthepost – made a telling impact on the game and will hope to turn in another top performance to secure a knock-out berth for the 15th consecutive World Cup. Although they may be without important midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, they shouldn’t be too worried
about not getting anything from the game. With three of s
trikers scoring goals, coach Loew should be full of confidence
that his forwards have shaken off their poor domestic showing and have found there blistering international form quickly.
Ghana look well-placed to progress to the knockout stages
Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash between Australia and Ghana, and it must be said that like the Serbians, it really is the last chance saloon for the Socceroos to get through to a second consecutive knock-out stages. The Ghanaians on the other hand are well placed to progress following their impressive performance against Serbia. With the pace and power of Gyan as well as he craft of Boatang they should have enough firepower to get goals against the Aussies, but should be careful at the back as they will doubtless come up against a more positive attacking performance than in their opening group game.
The Australians on the other hand will have to up their game to challenge the athletic Ghana side, and will have to defend with more organisation and class than they showed against Germany. Looking every bit the ageing side that they are, this tournament will be the swansong for many of this side, and they will surely want to go out with a bang. Starting the game with just Cahill up front was a mistake from Verbeek, as it negated the Everton midfielder’s greatest strength of arriving in the box late, but he will not have to make a decision on that front for this game, as Cahill is suspended following his red in the first game.
With no sides yet through to the knock-out stages, Germany will want to be the first side to qualify and a comprehensive win against Serbia would give them a good chance of going on and winning the group. Ghana will also fancy their chances against what look likes a poor Australian side, who themselves will be looking to regain some pride and give themselves a faint chance of getting out of the group.
Tags: Australia, Cahill, Germany, Ghana, group d, gyan, Loew, oezil, Serbia, verbeek
