Group D is being cited as the ‘most one-sided’ group out of all the groups going to South Africa. Germany, with a world ranking of 6, are easily the superior team, with second-best team Serbia, at world ranking. Betting odds never looked so good, but it could be a Euro 2004 repeat, and the underdog could come out on top.
Group D
Germany
Current World Ranking: 6
Three-times winners of the World Cup winners have won this tournament more times that any other team – except Brazil and Italy.
They’ve been runners-up four times, and been in the semi-finals more than any other side in the world, with a total of eleven semi-final knockouts.
Narrowly beating Russia with a 1-0 lead, they entered the world cup with still another match to play.
A qucik glance at their team shows us just how much of a force Germany will be at South Africa, albeit maybe not as powerful as they had once been.
With Chelsea‘s midfielder Michael Ballack leading the team, and Bayern Munich‘s star striker Miroslav Klose, attack will not be a problem, and don’t forget Mesut Ozil, Werder Bremen‘s young, new winger, dubbed, ‘The New Messi’.
Germany are definitely going to be a threat.
Australia
Current World Ranking: 21
Despite his resignation, the legacy of Guus Hiddink remains – with the Australian team qualifying for the world cup without conceding a single goal, and picking up 14 points in total.
Anyone who keeps up-to-date with the Premier League will find Australia’s line-up extremely familiar. Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer, Everton defender Lucas Neill, and Brett Emerton of Blackburn are all to be on the Australian line-up.
However, the star player is definitely Everton’s Tim Cahill, who will be a threat to even the most dangerous sides.
Serbia
Current World Ranking: 20
The fact that Serbia demolished Romania 5 – 0 during the qualification rounds just shows the leaps and bounds Serbia has made.
Much praise has been lavished on their extremely capable coach, Radomir Antic, a former player for Luton. His excellent coaching skills have been cited as the reason for Serbia’s sudden improvements.
Serbia’s line-up is decent too – Manchester United‘s Vidic and Chelsea’s Ivanovic in defence, Wolves’ Milijas in midfield, and Inter Milan‘s excellent striker Stankovic.
Their main weakness is likely to be the lack of international tournament experience the Serbian team have playing together. That coupled with being unluckily grouped with power contenders Germany could lead to their early knockout.
Ghana
Current World Ranking: 37
Ghana is undoubtedly one of the best African teams – being the only African team to qualify for the world cup this year.
The pure attacking power Ghana possesses is very surprising – a duo composed of Chelsea star, Michael Essien, and Inter Milan’s Sulley Muntari.
However, the rest of the Ghana team is weak, particularly the goalkeeping position, with no real solution for the position.
Although Essien and Muntari are clearly good enough to compete with the world’s best, the rest of the Ghana team is not. And because of this, there are major doubts as to whether they will even get past the first round.