Michael Ballack of Germany, top, reacts as Andrei Arshavin of Russia lies on the grass. Germany will miss Ballack, who has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an ankle injury he suffered during the FA Cup Final
As former England player (and now TV soccer anchor) Gary Lineker once put it, "Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball ... and in the end, Germany always wins." Despite often fielding an average team, Germany seemingly always qualifies for the World Cup and reaches the tournament's closing stages. And despite not having lifted the trophy since the year after the Berlin Wall fell, it would be folly to underestimate the nation. That said, Germany's possibly landed itself in the dreaded Group of Death: Ghana is the African nation that got farthest in Germany in 2006, and it has a plethora of talented stars such as Chelsea's Michael Essien and Inter Milan's Sully Muntari. Serbia is nobody's mug, and Australia came close to knocking out eventual winner Italy in 2006. But the Germans and Ghanaians should progress.
Predicted Finishing Order
1.Germany 2. Ghana 3. Serbia 4. Australia