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World Cup 2010
Match date: 13 June, 2010 – Kick Off : 20:30 CET
Venue: Durban Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Australia’s Socceroos face a tough opening test at the 2010 World Cup as they take on European powerhouse Germany at the Moses Mabhida Stadium this weekend.
Germany come into this fixture on the back of three straight wins in their pre World Cup friendlies over Malta, Hungary and Bosnia. They scored three goals in each of those fixtures and conceded just once. The Germans will be without influential midfielder and skipper Michael Ballack in this tournament. Other missing players include goalkeeper Rene Adler and defenders Marcel Jansen and Heiko Westermann. Stuttgart’s Sami Khedira seems to have won the race for replacing Ballack in midfield, while Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm has taken over the captain’s armband.
Coach Joachim Loew is likely to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation at the tournament. Lukas Podolski is expected to play on the left wing while veteran Miroslav Klose will play as the sole forward upfront. Werder Bremen playmaker Mesut Ozil, one of the architects of the German U-21 side’s triumph at the 2009 European Championships, will play behind Klose. Vice captain Bastian Schweinsteiger also books a spot, leaving Toni Kroos, Piotr Trochowski and Thomas Muller to fight for the vacant attacking place.
