World Cup Preview – Group D
This is probably the toughest group in the tournament. Germany should take the top spot; after that it’s a tossup on who among Serbia, Ghana and Australia will take the second qualifying position.
Germany made the semifinals as the host country four years ago, but is in a state of transition as it welcomes some young players to the squad. They are also dealing with the injury to team leader Michael Ballack, a player that coach Joachim Löw called “irreplaceable.” One of the world’s most prolific teams, Germany is facing some difficulties in attack as Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich) has been on the bench for the Bundesliga champions, and Lukas Podolski (Cologne) has scored just three goals this season. The hope is that coach Löw’s belief in the players can bring back their confidence to help lead Germany to another strong World Cup run.
The Germans could be the ones to watch, having breezed through the group stages undefeated. They also have a particularly strong World Cup record, having won the thing three times (1954, 1974, 1990), and made it all the way to the final on a further four occasions (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002). Even if the Germans do emerge winning the group, they could face both Argentina and Spain on the road to another possible final.
Ghana did well last time, emerging from 2006’s “group of death” before losing in the round of 16 to Brazil. That was one of the youngest teams in Germany, so this is essentially the same team, with a few more youngsters thrown in, given that Ghana won the Under-20 World Cup last year. The 20-year-old rising star defender Samuel Inkoom (Basle) is on the team, as are midfielder Agyemang Badu (Udinese), midfielder Dede Ayew (Arlese Avignon), and striker Dominic Adiyah (Milan).
Although it was the first African team to qualify (save for the hosts), Ghana is probably not the best team on the continent, an honor that would go to Ivory Coast or perhaps Cameroon (or even Egypt, which didn’t make the tournament but won the African Nations Cup). In particular, Ghana lacks the striking talent of some of the other African clubs.
This will be the first year that Serbia enters a World Cup as just Serbia. Last time they were shackled by Montenegro, and before that they were more commonly known as Yugoslavia. Hence, all there is to really go on is the qualifying campaign, in which they managed to win their group, which included France and Romania. This is a dangerous team, which plays just the kind of soccer that could thrive at altitude. Unfortunately in the first round, none of its games are at the highest elevations. The White Eagles’ squad includes several stars of European soccer, including Nemanja Vidic — who missed the 2006 tournament with injury — and Dejan Stankovic.
The 20th ranked Aussies are a tenacious, defensive-minded squad who play obstructive, bruising football with little regard for their own safety. This is not to call them reckless, but as any of their first-round opponents last time found out, the Socceroos are a friend to shin guard suppliers everywhere. They play unapologetically slow, brutal soccer. Australia is quite a decent team, but it got this impossible draw so unless it can pull off some unexpected upsets, it could well be going home after three games.
With a veteran squad looking to build on a Round of 16 performance at Germany 2006, Australia will be making a third appearance in the World Cup, yet its first as a representative from the Asian confederation after switching FIFA regions four years ago.
Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here and here. And also here.
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