Ze Germans have arrived

Bloody hell the Germans looked good. Youngest squad they've ever taken to a World Cup and their talisman Herr Ballack missing, though last night you'd be hard pushed to see whre he fits in. Australia flattered the German's, seemingly the defense couldn't run and raise their arms for offside at the same time, which caused a host of problems. The back four for Oz were as slow and flat-footed as we've seen so far, and as a side they looked old and well off the pace. There are only a handful of players under the age of 25 and it showed.

Though the first chance fell to the Australians in the opening 6 minutes and goals change games from that moment on there was only one team in it. Philip Lahm ran that touch line all night and looked superb, but for me Schweinsteiger was immense. Powerful, strong in possession and allowed the rest of the midfield to push forward. He patrolled that midfield in a style reminiscent of Stefan Effenberg. With him at the helm Ozil was allowed to twist, turn and flick his way through the Australian midfield. Klose looked older and more ponderous than 4 years ago, but that was a header of distinction, the power and direction a lesson for Franco who wasted similar headers in the opening game.

I don't think the Germans were particularly troubled by the Socceroos and once Tim Cahill was harshly dismissed it was more friendly than competitive. As ever the Germans have turned up to this tournament and appear in fine form, Ghana will be a tougher proposition all together with their power, pace nd more direct attacking play, but if a team wanted to state their intent from the off, that was as good a way as ever.

Having listened to Neil Sherwin creator of backpagefootball.com in Oz talk about this being the golden generation of Australian footballers and this being their last time ot impress due to age (sound familiar) there has to be some worry for the future.