Group D Predictions

It is now almost 4:15 am in New York and I'm too excited to sleep because the World Cup is less than 6 hours away!

I also realize that I forgot to finish the rest of my predictions. I am going to finish these quickly so I can send in my ESPN bracket before 10 am.

I'm going to skip on the analysis on some of the matches from now on unless their is something that I really want to discuss. If there is, I will keep it short.

This seems like a pretty tough group to predict. Germany plays well but I can never predict how they will play in major tournaments. I had hem winning the group in Euro 2008 and then Croatia beat them. I celebrated this, of course, but did not expect it. No team should count out Australia, and Serbia and Ghana can also play very well.

Germany vs Australia


Normally I would say that Germany would win this one, but I think that the socceroos can take advantage of Ballack's injury. I think this one will end in a 1-1 draw.

Serbia vs Ghana 0-0. If the World Cup wasn't in Africa, I would say that Serbia would win this match, but I think Ghana will keep the score close or scoreless. However, I haven't seen anything impressive coming from Ghana the last few years-- a team that I used to admire as one of Africa's best. Now, I think they will be lucky if they make it out of this group.

Germany vs Serbia: 1-2 Serbia wins. I actually think Serbia can win this one. That and the commentators on ESPN (both English and American) are already counting Germany out for the top spot and putting Serbia against the United States in the Round of 16. This can't happen unless Serbia takes the top spot because I can't see the Americans take the top away from England. Also, many of my Croatian friends attack me for actually talking positively about Serbia but I always try my best to keep politics separate from sports. HOwever, I don't think that Serbia will beat Germany in any way near the type of upset Croatia does, but I think they can keep the score close.

Ghana vs Australia: 1-1

Ghana vs Germany: 2-1 Germany win.

Australia vs Serbia: 2-1 Serbia win.

Standings based on my predictions:

1. Serbia 2-0-1 7 pts 4-2 +2
2. Germany 1-1-1 4 pts 4-4 0
3. Australia 0-1-2 2 pts 3-4 -1
4. Ghana 0-1-2 2 pts 2-3 -1

This would advance Serbia and Germany into the next round while Australia and Ghana would be eliminated.