Serbia aim to block Germany

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa – Serbia are hurting after their opening defeat to Ghana and must show no fear if they are to stop ‘machine-like’ Germany here today, striker Milan Jovanovic says.

Germany, arguably the team of the tournament at the World Cup so far, can all but seal a last 16 ticket with victory over the Serbs. A stylish 4-0 demolition of Australia in their opener has left Joachim Loew’s German side sitting pretty atop Group D. Mathematically it is possible they could still be squeezed out but that would require a combination of improbable upsets, not least Australia’s transformation from makeweights to man-eaters in their remaining games.But Serbia are not in South Africa by accident, having excelled in qualifying to top their table forcing former champions France into the playoffs. And Jovanovic has called on his teammates to go for Germany’s jugular after his side’s 1-0 reverse against Ghana in their first match.’Defeat has influenced our mood,’ the Standard Liege striker told Fifa.com.’We had expected to win the match against Ghana and we are all hurt by that failure. We missed out on our aim against an inferior rival and now we are in a position where we have to get as many points as possible against better teams than us.’Germany were very impressive against Australia. They have made the biggest impact at the World Cup so far. They are like a machine, they have seven players going forward. If we want to upset them, we will have to show no fear and play the best we can, because we face a better team.’Sami Khedira, who has successfully replaced the injured Michael Ballack in Germany’s midfield, is wary of a Serbian backlash.’We have to be ready to run against Serbia and display the same brand of football we produced against Australia,’ said the 21-year-old.Goals from Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller and Cacau got Germany’s 2010 campaign off to the perfect start. While other World Cup title contenders like Brazil, England, France and Italy have struggled to varying degrees in their first games Germany were cool, confident and clinical. A new German star was born in Durban with unheralded Mesut Ozil’s impressive performance in midfield.’We have always sought an out-and-out Number 10 and now we have found one,’ said striker Klose.Mueller, who produced a superb strike for Germany’s third goal against Australia, cautioned that the euphoria generated by the win would evaporate with a poor result on Friday.’The international press are heaping praise on us, when you play well you are everyone’s darling, but if we lose 2-0 to Serbia, they will tear us apart, so we need to keep our feet on the ground,’ said the 20-year-old.The Bayern Munich star added: ‘We are not the fantastic team which everyone makes us out to be.’But we have every reason to look forward to the Serbia game with quiet confidence, it will be a different type of game as they desperately need a win.’ – Nampa-AFP