Australia delighted at playing Germany, coach Verbeek says - Summary

Sydney - Australia coach Pim Verbeek said Saturday that having triple-champion Germany as opening World Cup opponents was a bonus. "I love to play Germany first game," the Dutchman said. "I think it's a big game, it's a great game, and the way they play suits us very well."

But Verbeek also admitted in a statement from Cape Town that being in Group D was not ideal.

"It's a tough group but the more difficult it is for the players the bigger the challenge," he said. "We have a good record against Ghana - we have won four times against them - but Germany is one of the best teams in the world, while Serbia beat France, so every game is full of challenges."

The prospect of a possibly round of 16 game against arch-rivals England - and consequently against some fellow England Premier League players - would give that extra incentive to take a top-two place in Group D, the Dutchman said.

"First Germany and then Ghana, then Serbia," Verbeek said. "But it can be a bonus for the players, for the last 2 per cent of motivation, they can hopefully play England in the next round."

Bookmakers have rated Australia's chances of winning the World Cup at 100-1 and they are the least-backed team in Group D.

Australia last played Germany, losing 4-3, at the 2005 Confederations Cup in Frankfurt.

South Africa will only be Australia's third World Cup finals.

In West Germany in 1974, where they drew Chile, East and West Germany in the group stage, they failed to win a match. Australia qualified a second time in 2006, again in Germany. It finished second in the group before being bundled out by later champion Italy in the first knock-out round on a controversial late penalty.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, meanwhile, said that Germany rather than Australia will be under pressure to perform well in their opening match.

"Obviously, it's a massive game first up and the great thing for us is that Germany will be under all the pressure," Schwarzer told local television.

"Everyone will expect Germany to win, they'll be under enormous pressure back home to win the game and the footballing world will be thinking the same thing," he said.

"So, from our point of view, we'll go into the game and hopefully we'll perform at our best and if we do I think there's every possibility that something might happen."

Schwarzer, whose parents were immigrants from Germany and who played his early European football with Dynamo Dresden and Kaiserslautern, said that in Group D only Ghana ranked lower than Australia in FIFA rankings.

"I'm happy that people might possibly underestimate us," Schwarzer said. "That will change pretty dramatically if we do beat Germany."

Former goalkeeper Mark Bosnich also said a creditable performance against Germany would be crucial.

"If we do happen to get a good result, that can set you up for a great World Cup," the 36-year-old said. "If you get a bad result, confidence can be low."