Why at 4-0 down is Jim Beglin suggesting the Aussies send their keeper up at a corner?

Because he's a fool?

Dangerous to judge on one match, especially against mediocre opponents, but Germany looked good.



They had good movement up top, passed the ball well and put some good attacking moves together and never looked in any trouble anywhere else on the pitch. Quite a few players I don't know much about in that team, but Ozil and Muller looked good and they just seem capable of always putting a decent team together.



Why's it so hard for us?

Because we're sh*t?



The Germans looked great. Full of pace, movement, ability, workrate, well organised. They had the lot today and whilst it's silly to judge on one game, you would have to say they have a chance of winning the tournament if they play that well.

The Germans and the Argentinians have impressed me most of those to have played so far. Without a significant improvement you wouldn't see us troubling either of those and there are at least three more fancied sides still to play (Brazil, Holland, Spain).

[url=http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,26691,12602_6205066,00.htmlOh dear

Are the RFL in charge of the football world cup?[/url

Agreed...the Germans looked great against a mediocre Aussie side that nevertheless would probably have troubled us.

We look like a rabble in comparison.

Where's that to$$er Leaguefan gone? Back sulking to the VT?

Don't tempt fate.

Doesn't have to be entertaining. They were ruthless and got the job done. That's all that matters. More than what England did.



Can't believe it only finished 4-0 thought, should have been at least 8.

I think this performance is what the cup needed. I felt that so far, the games have had too much 'feeling out', where the teams are too scared to go for it and spend the majority of the game probing. Germany came out with one intention tonight and that was to win. Look at the difference between them and England, they scored but carried on with the high tempo, carried on carving out the chances and the game was over after the second. Compare that to England, we scored instantly, then we kinda done nothing, we didn't push on, but we didn't exactly sure ourselves up at the back, we just fell asleep and you can't do that at this level.



Loved watching Ozil, that's another thing that's noticeable about the German side; other than Ballack, how many 'superstars' do they have? Most of their players play in their own league(I'd be surprised if any of the outfield players play outside of Germany), so they generally arrive as a bit of an unknown quantity without the global expectation of a side like Portugal or Spain, where their players play across the big leagues and expectation seems a lot higher. Obviously, those who watch the bundesliga know that the league is of a high quality, I certainly do, so today's game was of no surprise to me, the only surprise was how well Khedira done filling in for Ballack. I've always thought he was good, but Ballack's boots are huge for Germany, it remains to be seen if he can slug it out in the games where they won't have it so easy.

Personally I found their quick interplay and smart movement quite entertaining to watch, and very effective combined with their ruthlessness - but I guess posting that wouldn't live up to the stereotype.

Ballack being injured is a bonus for the Germans....he's one idle bitch.

I have said that since he has tossed it off with Chelsea, Chelsea (and Germany) would not drop a bollock by dropping a Ballak.

You are right....they were very entertaining.....and I hate the Germans.

Same here. Their direct play, sharp running and high tempo was a breath of fresh air compared to most of the stuff at this tournament. I enjoy international football, but too many sides play the slower, 'tactical' game, which I find boring most of the time.



Germany's problem will come when they come up against a side who play in the same way, I remember Holland getting jizzed over at the Euro's in 2008 after blitzing Italy on the counter, but as soon as they came up against a counter-attacking side themselves, they were found out and Russia made it look easy IMO. There are better sides out there than the Germans, whilst I think they'd have too much pace for a side like Argentina or Italy, Brazil would eat them alive IMO.

Confucius he say.....'never bet against the Germans'.

Germans will do well as always.



The World cup history shows that teams who do well are teams with a good history in the tournament or the hosts. Pretty sure the last team to win the world cup for the first time without being the host nation was Brazil in 1958. Can't see past Brazil, Germany, Italy or Argentina winning it again. Looking forward to seeing Spain play though.

I said before the tournament started I felt the opening games would be very lacklustre with teams just not wanting to lose and it could be very dour. In the main it has been so it was refreshing to see Germany have a real go. That's the biggest difference with England and Germany, we went 1-0 and sat back and tried to defend the lead whereas Germany wanted a 2nd and then a third. We need to adopt that mentality as when we did start to play and attack we looked a much better side.



Also worth noting that the Aussies lost 3-1 to the USA just before the WC started and are not the best side.

I thought that England fans were convincing everyone that USA are the best team in the world...

No, apparently that's the Germans. They win one game against a less than average Aussie side down to 10 men and the World Cup is theirs

Eh? I was just making the point that the USA stuck 3 past the Aussies so it's fair to say the Australia are not the best side, hence not going overboard on the Germany win.

Let's be honest, if England gave a performance like Germany's against the USA, this thread would be 10 pages longer, loaded with the usual drivel. Germany could only beat what was put in front of them and they done so with by far the most impressive performance of the tournament. Most people are giddy over Germany because many felt they'd struggle to replace some of the more experienced players who have done so well in the recent tournaments, but they looked really strong and fearless, whereas England, despite having 'the best coach in the world' and 'the matured golden generation' looked mediocre against a relatively talentless side.

Spot on

Wigan's Mark Riddell on last night's match

I fully agree with all of that, Germany did a great job and could not have done any better really. That said at times the Aussies looked shambolic in defence. Everything with England is OTT whether it's pro or anti England comments. Would England have beaten the Aussies 4-0, I doubt it, they would have won but would not have looked as impressive. What the USA have is organisation and athleticism, they were pretty good defensively. That said I think the difference between Germany and England was attitude, had we tried to push on at 1-0 we could have achieved a confortable victory but we never and the Germans showed exactly the right way to go about getting the right result.