体坛英语新闻：Germany humiliates Australia 4-0 in World Cup

DURBAN, South Africa, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The supposedly weakened Germany humiliated Australia 4-0 at the World Cup Group D match held in Durban stadium with an attendance of 62,660 on Sunday.

Germany has an overally young squad, their youngest in 76 years while Australia boasted of great experience as they have 12 players who played at previous FIFA World Cup.

The two sides had one meeting in the World Cup history when in 1974 West Germany defeated Australia 3-0 in the first round. In their most recent duel, Germany disposed of Australia 4-3 at the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005.

Germany have been supposedly weakened as captain Michael Ballack, goalkeeper Rene Adler, defender Heiko Westermann and midfielder Simon Rolfes missed the World Cup due to injuries.

The Socceroos played aggressively when the match began, pressing the Germans to some mistakes. At the 4th minute, the Aussies had an early chance that Tim Cahill hit a corner towards goal but Philipp Lahm blocked on the line.

However, the Germans found their rhythm at the 8th minute that Thomas Muller pulled the ball back for Lukas Podolski to power home a left-foot drive. Australia's most capped player and goalie Mark Schwarzer failed to keep it out.