Loew says Germany aims to ‘embarrass’ Australia to gain World Cup confidence boost

Germany aiming for emphatic win over Australia

Germany wants more than a simple victory when it begins its World Cup schedule Sunday. It is after an emphatic win over Australia.

A lopsided decision could prove that its young team is a legitimate title challenger in South Africa, even without captain Michael Ballack.

The Chelsea midfielder is out after injuring his right ankle in his club team’s FA Cup victory over Portsmouth. But coach Joachim Loew still has a wealth of talent at his disposal for Sunday’s Group D match in Durban as Germany seeks its fourth World Cup title, and first in 20 years.

“We want to start with a win, to give the team another shot of confidence,” Germany captain Philipp Lahm said. “It’s a young team and the players are hungry.”

The second-youngest German World Cup squad has an average age under 25.

“We can go in with confidence, but we have respect for Australia,” Loew said. “It’s a well-organized team. Not spectacular, but they work hard, they have exceptional organization, good passing, they are incredible physically and they have almost perfect defense organization.”

Even so, Loew added, “We want to be able to embarrass opponents with our playing skills.”

Also getting started Sunday will be Algeria and Slovenia in Group C in Polokwane, and Serbia-Ghana in Group D in Pretoria.

Australia forward Harry Kewell concedes that facing Germany will be an uphill battle for the Socceroos.

“Let’s face it, we’ve probably hit the hardest team in the World Cup to come up against, especially first off the bat,” Kewell said.

Australia’s Dutch coach Pim Verbeek has built his squad around a nucleus of stars from the 2006 World Cup: goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, Kewell and his Galatasary teammate Lucas Neill, and Everton midfielder Tim Cahill.

Both Algeria and Slovenia needed playoffs after qualifying was done to reach the World Cup, which could favor the Slovenians. They had to beat European championship semifinalist Russia in a two-game series to qualify.

Failure has not entered Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek’s thoughts.

“There is no room for fear or agony, we play for our pride,” Kek said. “Every World Cup is a new challenge and I feel that my team is very motivated to do well.”

Algeria coach Rabah Saadane benched captain Yazid Mansouri for the game because his form was not good enough.

Algeria won every home match during qualifying, then defeated Egypt in a playoff. It is the only Arab nation in the tournament.

“We have nothing to lose,” Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra, “We have no pressure.”

Ghana advanced from a difficult group four years ago before losing to Brazil. It is without star Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, and will rely heavily on Sulley Muntari, who won the Champions League with Inter Milan this year.

“He is a massive player for us — we will miss him a a lot,” Muntari said of the Chelsea star.

Ghana will count on Muntari’s speed and striker Asamoah Gyan’s firepower against a solid Serbian backline built around Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic. Vidic is considered among the best center backs in the world.

Four years ago in Germany, the Serbia-Montenegro team lost all three group matches, including a 6-0 defeat to Argentina.