Germany 4 - Australia 0

The game has just finished. I dreamt last night that we lost 3-1. Well, there were four goals scored in the game. However, it could have been a lot worse for us. Such a big loss will impact on us severely for the rest of the tournament. It could well be the biggest margin of the tournament...watch this space.

The key turning points for me were:

• First and foremost, the team selection and positioning of Tim Cahill––a real waste.
• Our miss on goal in the first few minutes.
• The 2nd goal was misjudged by our experienced goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer.
• A penalty that was not given to us for handball in box in the first few minutes of the second half.
• The sending off (straight red card) for Tim Cahill, which I thought was very harsh.

The above are certainly no excuses as Germany well and truly deserved to win by a reasonable margin.

Cahill's send-off (our key goal scorer in 2006 World Cup) and automatic suspension for our next "must win" game against Ghana is a massive blow as he is our most natural goal scorer. Unfortunately they don't have a system like our other football codes where persons sent-off have the opportunity to face the judiciary to argue their case. I felt it was a yellow card offence.

Germany played exciting football, contrary to their normal solid defensive style. However, we made them look good.

The tournament isn't over for us, yet. Both of our next games are "must wins" as I don't expect Ghana or Serbia to lose to Germany by such a margin (and we can't rely on that either). I think Ghana are going to pressure us with their pace and physical strength. Serbia would be our best chance, but they are the last game for us. I just hope that Pim Verbeek (coach) has better game plans for these upcoming matches.