ofcourse we are the underdogs what does everyone think we are favourites.

devastating. However I was reading a mag over here in England and they said they wanted Serbia and Ghana to come out on top of Germany. No mention at all of Aus. I think were still the underdogs of our group.

Gooner4life_8
not a lame pun a pame lun!!

is that some lame pun to do with ghana's nickname being the black stars by any chance?

The stars are aligning for us with the loss of Essien and Ballack being out, now all we need is that Man U hatchet man Vidic to get sent off in the first game and all will be well.

ghana certainly won't be the same but they won't be too bad either

Epic fail statement. Germany perhaps. But not Ghana. Essien is one of the best players in the world. But simply doesn't get recognized as much as players in the striking/AM positionsn. To say that Ghana will be at the same strength is stupid. He is the Chelsea engine, Fantastic in attack and even better in defense a fantastic tackler, great passing vision, fast, and has great strength despite his size. World class.

Edited by seriously: 28/5/2010 07:06:55 PM

:cry:

seems like a lot more sympathy for essien than ballack though :)

Whats happening? All of the gun midfielders are dropping like flies in group D. Next we'll be hearing of Dejan Stankovic suffering an injury.

the blokes been injured all year and if he did play he wouldnt have been at his best

This is extremely good news.:cool:

anyone who thinks this is good news is trash.

oh ....... damn...... what a shame......

Ger well soon!!

Ballack and Essien gone ...

... and, Branislav Ivanović must be a very worried man!

Jokes aside, it's awful seeing champion players miss out on the biggest event. Essien, in particular, must be devastated at not being able to participate in the WC on African soil.

The Chelsea Curse?

Edited by DR1964: 28/5/2010 03:33:40 PM

:lol: :lol: :lol: Marty would love to see this.

First post too :lol:

Edited by imnofreak: 28/5/2010 03:25:35 PM

The irony is killing me.

As good as germany and ghana are the pyschological effect of losing one of your best players will play a part on the team and how australia's mind set is on playing them. We will certainly feel a lot more confident thats for sure.

\:d/ \:d/ \:d/

♪I've got to admit, it's getting better, a little better all the time.♪

[youtube]Jk0dBZ1meio[/youtube]

If Ivanovic got injured too, it would make three players from the same club, all in the same WC group :lol: (with different countries, of course) all injured.

I wonder if there are any other clubs that have three players in the same group, (Different countries)...

terrible for the tournament, but when it comes to the socceroos, i'm a results man, so anything that makes winning easier is wonderful in my morally reprehensible book

This is good news for us, it will only make us beleive even more that we can qualify for the next round! Whos next??? Nikola Zigix maybe???? haha jokes!!!

You're splash headline on the home page is grammatically incorrect; it infers Ballack plays for Ghana.

*puts away Ghana voodoo doll next to German voodoo doll*

*purchases Serbian voodoo doll*

*demands refund on Holman voodoo doll*

All we need now is John Saffran, a Mozambiqe witch doctor, a goat and a pack of condoms.

This.

No one is jumping around saying we have won, but to sit there and say Ghana won't be weakened by the loss is ridiculous. He is one of the best in the world without a shadow of a doubt and Ghana do not have the same depth as Germany, Brazil et al. Simply fact is they will be much weaker without him both on the pitch and psychologically and that is a good thing for us.

Edited by Tyson_85: 28/5/2010 10:18:09 AM

I honestly dont understand people who say this. They are basically each teams best player, so being replaced automatically weakens the side, that is just natural. Although personally I feel Ballack is a bigger loss for Germany than Essien is for Ghana.

Not under any illusions latinr33, but while Germany will probably cover the Ballack hole pretty well, Essien is a massive loss for Ghana, and I wouldn't be surprised if their odds blew out a bit after this news!

Germany have the depth to compensate for Balacks absence, Ghana do not have the depth to cover Essien. It would be like us losing Cahill and having to play Holman instead. There is also the psychological loss this involves, they know they've lost their best player and it will affect their confidence.

I wish him a long and slow recovery :)

Latinr33, Essien is definitely one of Ghana's best players, if not the best, how can you say Ghana won't be any weaker without him?