World Cup 2010:Cahill in tears after sending off

An inconsolable Tim Cahill has described his red card in Australia's 4-0 defeat to Germany as the saddest moment of his career.

The forward then broke down in tears in front of the media

Cahill was sent off in the 56th minute for a challenge on German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, with Australia trailing 2-0 in Durban.

After the match Schweinsteiger approached Cahill in the media mixed zone and told the 30-year-old that the incident should not have earned him a red card.

That gesture almost proved too much for Cahill who struggled to compose himself as he spoke about the incident and the ramifications of the decision to give him a straight red card from Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez.

"I'm just sad. It's probably one of the saddest moments of my footballing career to be in this position," Cahill said.

"To hear Schweinsteiger say that, it's very nice of him to say it wasn't a red card. It just shows you how dreams can be made and crushed in the space of hours.

"It's one of the lowest points of my career. But this is the beauty of football. One day you are a hero, the next day you are at the bottom."

Cahill, who will miss next Saturday's game against Ghana at the very least, maintains there was no malice in the tackle and that he had attempted to avoid contact when it was apparent he was not going to get the ball.

"My leg stayed bent all the way. Never once did I try to straighten it. What do you want me to say?" he said.

"To have the momentum as we did in the second half, to have Emo (Brett Emerton) on the right and (Richard) Garcia on the left and show some desire to close down, to try and make things work.

"I thought the tempo was good and we just started to pick up and put pressure on them, make it play quicker.

"A lot of credit goes to the German team and for us, it makes it worse. I feel that maybe that decision changed the game, even though we were 2-0 down, I felt the momentum was with us."

Cahill has every confidence the Socceroos can bounce back without him against Ghana and wants to play a role in rebuilding the team's confidence.

"One hundred percent, it isn't about one player," he added.

"We've said from the start. I think for us, as players, especially myself is to be a role model to the young players and to try and make sure that I try and play as well as I can.

"I never doubt my own character. One thing I am is 100 percent committed to the cause. I'm 100 percent behind the lads and I'll train just as hard to prove my worth."

World Cup 2010:Beckenbauer slams English football

Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer has accused England of playing "kick and rush" football.

He believes they are suffering for the lack of domestic players in the Barclays Premier League.

Beckenbauer saw Joachim Low's side record an impressive 4-0 win over Australia the day after England toiled to a 1-1 draw with the United States due to keeper Robert Green's howler.

And the 64-year-old, who captained his country in both the 1966 World Cup final defeat to England and their victorious 1974 campaign, feels Fabio Capello will struggle to lift his side's performances.

In a column for South African newspaper The Times, Beckenbauer said: "What I saw of the English against the USA had very little to do with football.

"It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old days of kick and rush.

"I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can still change much there.

"The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League as clubs use better foreign players from all over the world."

World Cup 2010:Zinedine Zidane blasts Les Blues

Former French great Zinedine Zidane has criticised the approach of the team against Uruguay on Friday.

Zidane who is part of both World Cup legend and infamy, thought the French were not cohesive enough as a unit. They struggled to create clear cut chances and ultimately had to be content with a goalless draw against the South Americans.

Speaking to Canal+, he claimed: "The problem is that we have seen too many individuals. They wanted to differentiate themselves, but it is the collective who get results from matches like that."

The selection policies of Raymond Domenech were also criticsed in the press, particularly his deployment of Govou behind Nicolas Anelka, and Zidane called upon the eccentric coach to take responsibility for his decision.

"He selected the players and, at some point, it is necessary that this team gets to play together. It's the players who must move and do something to change that.

"We need this team to play together. A World Cup is very short. Some will perhaps not play again. Therefore, he should put his ego aside and work for the collective. This is not what we saw in the last game."

Shearer: Rooney needs to fire up

England legend, Alan Shearer is adamant that the real Wayne Rooney did not show up against the USA.

The Manchester United striker looked frustrated throughout the Group C match which ended in a 1-1 draw.

With Emile Heskey partnering him upfront, Rooney tried his best to get into the game but looked off the pace and at times, angry with himself.

In his column for The Sun, Shearer revealed: "Rooney needs to play with fire in his belly.

"It doesn't matter whether he is playing in the school playground or the World Cup finals, he needs that inner drive and hunger that sets him apart from the rest.

"I am willing to bet that Wayne will make a big, positive impact on these finals and we should all be thankful that we have a genuinely world-class player in our ranks."

Shearer was also quick to point out that in order for Rooney to make an impact, Fabio Capello will need to choose the right tactics to fully maximize his star striker's role on the pitch.

He added: "I still maintain Rooney up on his own and Gerrard slightly behind him, breaking into the box from deeper positions, would be a winning formula.

"Wayne has the mobility, the touch and the body strength to hold off defenders and the vision to bring others into play.

"Playing on his own doesn't remove any of his goal-scoring threat either."

The Newcastle United legend refused to jump on the bandwagon to dismiss England's chances of claiming the trophy.

"We will get into the second round - no question about that - though it is important now that we win the group to avoid Germany in the next stage.

"All we have to do is produce two better results than America in our games against Algeria and Slovenia and that shouldn't be beyond us.

"I felt desperately sorry for Rob Green but one blunder hasn't made him a bad goalkeeper. Mishaps and upsets do seem to happen to England at the final stages of major tournaments.

"With a bit of luck we have got the gremlins out of the system early on this time around and can go on and have a relatively trouble-free tournament - and a successful one.' said Shearer.

World Cup 2010:England Drama - King is out

England's hopes of lifting the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ trophy were dealt another heavy blow with news that Ledley King is out for three weeks.

The Sun reported that the Tottenham Hotspur captain, who damaged an abductor muscle in his groin in England's 1-1 draw against the USA on Saturday night is likely to face three weeks on the sidelines.

That could effectively rule him out of the rest of the tournament with Fabio Capello now down to three fit central defenders in John Terry, Matthew Upson and Michael Dawson.

The Italian tactician took a huge gamble in naming King in his 23-man squad, and that decision seems to have backfired.

Speaking to the media, Capello said: "We have three other central defenders, Carragher, Michael Dawson and Matthew Upson. I hope we have no more injuries.

"The problem is not the injuries. The problem is only the result of the game."

It was revealed that Terry informed the bench about King's injury, just moments after Steven Gerrard scored for England in the fourth minute.

Carragher came on as his replacement but did not look comfortable at all with his lack of pace, glaringly exposed by the likes of Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore.

England's next game in Group C will be against Algeria on Friday.

Higuain: Forwards live for goals

Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain is disappointed not to have scored against Nigeria but is happy to be off to a winning start.

Diego Maradona's men snatched a 1-0 win over the Super Eagles in their opening Group B match but in reality, should have got a few more goals in the bag had they been more clinical in their finishing.

Veteran defender, Gabriel Heinze scored the winning goal with a first-half header as the South Americans dominated proceedings from start to finish.

Speaking to AS, the Real Madrid forward said: "Forwards live for goals but is not a pressure, it's a challenge. The important thing is the chances we had, there's disappointment at not having scored, but less so because we won. Although if the game would have been settled earlier we would have been more calm,

"We took an important step. It was more for us and the fans who were with us, so we could show them that we want to win the World Cup. With work and everything comes the ability to get there."

Higuain was also quick to laud praise on coach Maradona whom he reckons is the reason for their victory against the Nigerians.

"For this to be his first World Cup [as coach], we proved in the first game that he works well, the team was compact, robust and at times we played well and created chances," he added.

Argentina will play group leaders, South Korea in their next game on Thursday with the winner of that match likely to progress to the knockout stages from Group B.

Group D: Germany 4-0 Australia

Germany get their World Cup campaign off to a flyer with a thumping 4-0 win against Australia in Group D.

With a young squad and without injured Michael Ballack, the Germans went on a scoring rampage.

Lukas Podolski opened their account in the eighth minute before veteran Miroslav Klose doubled the lead before the half-hour mark.

Cheered by the numerous green and gold fans at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the Socceroos showed more determination after the re-start but saw their challenge take a fatal hit when Tim Cahill was shown a straight red card in the 56th minute following a foul on Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Thomas Muller added Germany's third in the 68th minute before substitute Cacau got an easy tap-in less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

The result lifted Joachim Low's side top of Group D alongside Ghana, who beat Serbia 1-0 earlier in the day.

The Germans, who had not lost a group game since 1994, made Australia pay for their sloppy defending.

Low handed out-of-form Klose the lone striker's role and it proved a wise move.

The men from Down Under had the better of the opening stages and came close to taking the lead in the third minute.

During a scramble in the area, Richard Garcia's close-range shot was blocked by Philipp Lahm.

The Germans responded shortly after, with an unmarked Klose surging inside the area and hitting a right-footed strike towards the centre of goal which the Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer parried away.

Podolski made no mistake seconds later. He got behind Muller's pull back from the right and drove the ball in from 15 yards. Schwarzer managed to get a touch on the ball but it went in.

Jason Culina could have restored parity in the 17th minute but he nodded high from Brett Emerton's cross.

Midway through the first half, Klose missed a glorious chance to make it 2-0.

The veteran got behind Podolski's cross and struck the ball wide from the heart of the area.

Klose made amends shortly after as he extended his team's lead in the 26th minute after sloppy defending by Australia.

Schwarzer came off his line and got to Klose just as the striker headed home from Lahm's cross from the right.

On the half-hour mark, captain Lucas Neill managed to clear Mesut Ozil's goalbound shot with Schwarzer already beaten.

Germany's Sami Khedira headed high over the crossbar as Germany went into the break after a near-perfect first half.

Australia coach Pim Verbeek brought in Brett Holman at half time in the hope of sparking his team into life.

Holman tried to make an immediate impact but his diagonal shot went wide of Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's far post.

Australia's hopes then nose-dived when Cahill was shown a straight red card for a tackle from behind on Schweinsteiger.

With one man short, Australia struggled to stop Germany's advances and conceded shortly after the hour mark.

Muller got away from his marker before lashing home a shot in off the post.

Australia had little time to react as Germany struck again two minutes later.

Ozil surged down the left and cut it back for the Brazilian-born striker to hit it past Schwarzer.