THE SUN titelt: A real footballing lesson

Germany provided a real signal of intent with a thrilling demolition of 10-man Australia to get their 2010 World Cup campaign off to a flying start.

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GERMANY set the World Cup alight last night as they handed out a real footballing lesson.

Joachim Low's side showed everyone how the game should be played with this impressive four-goal thumping of 10-man Australia.And it completed a weekend of misery for all English fans. First, a dismal failure to beat the USA - and then having to watch the old enemy dismantling our chums from Down Under. Can we start this tournament again please, Mr Blatter? Four days in and our German friends top Group D and England are labouring in second in Group C. Over the horizon, the spectre of an England v Germany clash in the knockout round of 16 looms. Coach Low roared: "We were very good on the ball tonight and we created some beautiful goals. "But there is still room for improvement. Our defence was excellent and I was very happy with our counter-attacks. "But in terms of closing the space between defence and midfield, I felt sometimes we were too defensive. We will work on this. "The first match always comes with a lot of pressure.It's always important to win to get self-confidence. "We can be very satisfied, happy and confident. But we have to keep our concentration. We want to reach the last-16 stage at least." Australia's dismal display left coach Pim Verbeek questioning his team's attitude. He admitted: "We were outplayed and we are disappointed with the result. "The way we handled the game was definitely not good. "We were disorganised and we didn't play the way we need to in order to challenge Germany. "They are one of the candidates to win the World Cup. They are much stronger than in the past. "In the second half, I thought we did much better but when you have a player sent off then it becomes very difficult." Germany won with ominous efficiency, easily outclassing the hopeless Aussies. The Socceroos strolled out on a balmy night in Durban bristling with characteristic confidence as one of the first teams to qualify for the World Cup finals. Their line-up was peppered with Premier League talent in Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer, Everton midfielder Tim Cahill and ex-West Ham skipper Lucas Neill. They had also managed a seven-game run without conceding a goal as they romped the Asia group. That lasted eight minutes before they were crushed under the German machine. Polish-born Lukas Podolski rammed home a shot from 20 yards to round off a three-man move. As usual Germany rocked up to the World Cup finals dragging behind them the traditional smokescreen of despondency and despair. No skipper Michael Ballack because of an ankle injury. Rookie keeper Manuel Neuer in goal because No 1 Rene Adler was also crocked. The overriding message from coach Low's camp in the build-up to last night's game was the interesting statistic that this is the youngest Germany squad at a World Cup finals for 76 years with an average age of 25, so do not expect miracles. But after less than half an hour Germany were two up and the match was effectively finished. New captain Philipp Lahm dropped a delicious ball into the danger area. Striker Klose snapped up the chance when Schwarzer and Neill got in a muddle and allowed him to head in his 11th goal in World Cup finalNeuer was forced to make just one save in the first half as, ironically, the very first chance of the match fell to Australia.Cahill climbed high to push a glancing header goalwards from Brett Emerton's corner. Neill diverted it goalwards but Neuer cleared and stopped Richard Garcia's follow-up effort.That was the last we saw of Australia in Germany's area until cries for a penalty when Garcia headed on to Per Mertesacker's arm three minutes into the second half.And to make it worse for the bedraggled underdogs, Cahill was sent off after 56 minutes for clattering into Sebastian Schweinsteiger - although it looked harsh.Muller, who had earlier grazed the bar, then made it 3-0 when he crashed home a goal off the foot of a post.The humiliation for the Aussies got worse when sub Cacau made it four in the 70th minute - just 60 seconds after coming on.The contest was over and the message was clear. Watch out, the Germans are coming.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - LUKAS PODOLSKI (Germany)

GERMANY: Neuer 6, Lahm 7, Friedrich 6, Badstuber 6, Mertesacker 6, Khedira 6, Ozil 8 (Gomez 6), Schweinsteiger 6, Podolski 9 (Marin 5), Muller 7, Klose 7 (Cacau 6). Booked: Ozil, Cacau.

AUSTRALIA: Schwarzer 5, Emerton 5 (Jedinak 74), Neill 4, Chipperfield 4, Chipperfield 4, Moore 4, Culina 5, Grella 5 (Holman 5), Wilkshire 4, Cahill 5, Garcia 6 (Rukavytsya 5), Valeri 4. Booked: Valeri, Neill Moore. Sent off: Cahill

 

 

 

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