Socceroos’ rivals reveal few surprises

The Socceroos‘ World Cup Group D rivals have revealed few surprises but all their big guns among their 30-man extended squad lists for next month’s tournament in South Africa.

Serbia’s squad – the last to be named ahead of Tuesday’s FIFA deadline – is headed by Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic and Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic.

Liverpool target Milan Jovanovic, currently with Belgium’s Standard Liege, is among the strikers in a Serbian outfit which topped a difficult qualifying group including 2006 World Cup finalists France.

Germany named their squad last weekend, with captain Michael Ballack set to be buoyed by his involvement in Chelsea’s English Premier League title win.

Ballack, who scored four goals in eight qualifying matches, and FC Cologne striker Lukas Podolski headline a solid German outfit who will tackle Australia first-up on June 14.

His Chelsea teammate Michael Essien adds a touch of class to Ghana’s squad, which includes five English Premier League players and a host of Italian-based stars including Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari.

But Essien has been named under a fitness cloud, not having played a club match since December and injuring his knee at the African Cup of Nations.

And he admits he is racing time to be fit ahead of the June 1 deadline for naming the final 23-man World Cup squads.

“The World Cup is the best and most difficult football tournament in the world and I would rather be there fully fit,” he told Chelsea’s official web site.

“We will just have to wait and see.

“If I make it for the World Cup then great – if not I have my whole career ahead of me.

“The last thing I want is to rush back and cause more problems down the line.”

On Tuesday Australia named a 30-man squad, plus emergency goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, for a training camp in Melbourne ahead of the final World Cup selection.

Group D rivals’ squads:
Germany
Goalkeepers: Joerg Butt (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburger SV), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim), Jerome Boateng (Hamburger SV), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Hamburger SV), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart), Heiko Westermann (Schalke)

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Sami Khedira (Stuttgart), Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen), Mesut Oezil (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Christian Traesch (Stuttgart), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)

Forwards: Cacau (Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (FC Cologne)

Serbia
Goalkeepers: Vladimir Stojkovic (Wigan), Zeljko Brkic (Vojvodina), Bojan Isailovic (Cukaricki Belgrade), Andjelko Djuricic (Leiria)

Defenders: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese), Ivan Obradovic (Zaragoza), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio)

Midfielders: Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan), Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Miloss Krasic (CSKA Moscow), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege), Milos Ninkovic (Dynamo Kiev), Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Stuttgart), Zoran Tosic (FC Cologne), Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax), Gojko Kacar (Hertha Berlin), Nemanja Matic (Chelsea), Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade)

Forwards: Nikola Zigic (Valencia), Marko Pantelic (Ajax), Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg), Dragan Mrdja (Vojvodina), Dejan Lekic (Red Star Belgrade)

Ghana
Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson (Wigan), Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professional), Stephen Aholu (Heart of Lions), Stephen Adams (Aduana Stars)

Defenders: Samuel Inkoom (FC Basel), Hans Adu Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen), Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea), John Mensah (Sunderland), Rahim Ayew (Zamalek), Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim), John Pantsil (Fulham), Jonathan Mensah (Granada), Eric Addo (Roda JC)

Midfielders: Dede Ayew (Arles-Avignon), Michael Essien (Chelsea), Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese), Agyemang Badu (Udinese), Stephen Appiah (Bologna), Anthony Annan (Rosenborg), Haminu Draman (Lokomotiv Moscow), Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan), Quincy Owusu Abeyie (Al Sadd), Derek Boateng (Getafe), Bernard Kumordzie (Panionios), Laryea Kingston (Hearts), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Portsmouth)

Forwards: Prince Tagoe (Hoffenheim), Asamoah Gyan (Rennes), Dominic Adiyiah (AC Milan), Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda)

http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/05/13/socceroos-rivals-reveal-few-surprises/