Former Germany captain Lothar Matthaus says his country have almost no chance of winning the World Cup in South Africa.
Matthaus, who won won an incredible 150 caps in a long international career, is unimpressed with the standard of coach Joachim Loew's squad.
"The problem with Germany is that they have no stars, no-one with any individual brilliance, now that Ballack is out," said Matthaus. "And their preparations have hardly been optimal."
Australia forward Harry Kewell concedes that facing Germany on the first weekend will be an uphill battle for the Socceroos.
"Let's face it, we've probably hit the hardest team in the World Cup to come up against, especially first off the bat," said Kewell.
Winning the World Cup would still not be enough for United States forward DaMarcus Beasley to make a real name for himself in his home state of Indiana.
Michael Jackson and the Jackson family are the Hoosier state's most famous sons and former Rangers player Beasley admitted that realistically not even lifting the World Cup trophy would see him make a similar name for himself.
"Even if we won the World Cup I still wouldn't be that big a thing," said Beasley.
"But maybe I would be in the top 10. I might even get a statue."
England captain Steven Gerrard has surprisingly picked out sprint star Usain Bolt as a big inspiration.
Olympic 100 and 200m champion Bolt is a huge football fan and has asked Gerrard for a signed shirt for his growing collection.
"Usain Bolt is an athlete I really look up to," Gerrard said. "As a sprinter he's the man isn't he? He's there to be shot at but keeps on winning. It takes some doing to be at the top of your game like he is.
"It's a pity he's a Man United fan though. I was going to ask him to one of our training sessions when he's in England but I might not bother now."
Paraguay have laughed off reports that Oscar Cardozo could be out of the World Cup and declared the striker could yet make next week's opening match against Italy.
Cardozo, who scored 36 goals for Benfica last season, has been struggling with an ankle injury and has been training separately from the rest of the Paraguay squad.
"I must clarify that Oscar Cardozo is not out of the World Cup, as has been implied in some media," said Paraguay team doctor Manuel Aguilar.
"What's more, neither has he been ruled out of the first game."
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