Kewell hits out at Roos' rivals
May 18, 2010

Harry Kewell has hit out at critics on "high horses" from Australia's World Cup rivals who think his country will be the whipping boys of Group D, which also features Germany, Ghana and Serbia.

Kewell has been keeping an eye on how the Socceroos are being perceived in their opposing nations and he doesn't like what he sees. Kewell didn't say whether it was players and coaches or media who were knocking his team - in fact Germany's now injured captain Michael Ballack has publicly assured reporters his side wouldn't take Australia lightly - but the midfield wizard said he'd heard disrespectful noises coming from all three opponents.

"A lot of people are speculating that we are the weakest team (in Group D)," Kewell said at the launch of his new underwear range in Australia. "I have heard reports from Ghana, from Serbia and from Germany ... they are all sitting up there on their high horses. But we've proved people wrong once before and we're confident to go there and play good football.

Kewell remains under an injury cloud of his own for the tournament as coach Pim Verbeek sweats on whether his injured groin will recover in time to allow him to get some much-needed football under his belt before the tournament proper. That's still a better diagnosis than Ballack's, who has been ruled out with ankle ligament damage - not that Kewell thinks that will make Germany more susceptible when Australia faces them on June 13 in Durban.

"I don't think it's a big difference. Germany's got some great players in there so whoever's playing is going to be difficult," he said.

The Germans remain in Australia's sights, however, as Kewell highlighted the importance of winning the opening game for any World Cup team. Australia defeated Japan in a famous come-from-behind 3-1 win to set up their progression from the group stage at Germany 2006. Australia captain Lucas Neill echoed that sentiment while praising Kewell's impact on Australia's chances.

"He's a player that can change a game in a split second," Neill said. "He's one of our big guns. He'll be ready - I'm confident and so is he."

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