Germany humiliates Aussie Socceroos

Germany

4 - 0

Australia

6:30 PM GMT, June 13, 2010

Durban Stadium, Durban, South Africa

Australia's National Football Team, or Socceroos, have made a nightmare start to their World Cup finals campaign, with midfield star Tim Cahill sent off in Australia's embarrassing 4-0 loss to a classy Germany at Durban Stadium, Australia's media reported on Monday.

Cahill, the hero of Australia's 2006 World Cup campaign, has been sent off with a straight red card in the 56th minute for a late challenge on Schweinsteiger at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Scoring Summary

Germany	Australia
Lukas Podolski (8')
Miroslav Klose (26')
Thomas Müller (67')
Cacau (70')

Match Stats

Germany

Australia

17(9)	Shots (on Goal)	11(2)
10	Fouls	18
4	Corner Kicks	7
7	Offsides	2
56%	Time of Possession	44%
2	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	1
2	Saves	5

Match Information

Stadium:	Durban Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Attendance:	62,618
Match Time:	18:30 GMT
Official(s):	Julian Rodriguez Santiago (Referee)

MATCH SUMMARY

Man of the Match: Lukas Podolski - He may not have fired for his club this season, but Podolski always turns it on for his country. Playing wide left, he netted a great early goal and provided a constant attacking threat throughout with his pace and vision on the ball.

Germany verdict: An attacking line-up, with Bastian Schweinsteiger playing deeper than usual, gave them licence to control the flow of the game. Germany made more passes in one half than South Africa, Uruguay, USA and Nigeria completed in their entire matches and it showed. Total domination.

Australia verdict: Without playing a striker, the Socceroos were always going to struggle to peg Germany back. Tim Cahill had a great early chance from a header, but there was precious little possession or space for them to mount any decent attacks.

Could do better: Craig Moore - He hasn't had a club since March, and Moore looked way out of his depth. Being screamed at constantly by Lucas Neill, the central defender found himself out of position on more than one occasion and did not have the pace to make amends.

Stat attack: Klose scored his 11th World Cup goal, which ties him with Jurgen Klinsmann and Sandor Kocsis for fifth in World Cup history. Klose also becomes sixth German player to score at three straight World Cups.

Germany has an overally young squad, their youngest in 76 years while Australia boasted of great experience as they have 12 players who played at previous FIFA World Cup.

The two sides had one meeting in the World Cup history when in 1974 West Germany defeated Australia 3-0 in the first round. In their most recent duel, Germany disposed of Australia 4-3 at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005.