Germans make their World Cup mark

There are few better ways of making your mark on a World Cup than by smashing in four goals without reply during your opening group game.

That's exactly what the Germans did against Australia last night and the result already seems to have proved the trite old adage which says you can never write off Die Mannschaft. World cup last 16 betting certainly expects them to cruise through their group.

Of course, their cause was helped when Australia's Tim Cahill received a red card for an innocuous challenge on Bastian Schweinsteiger, but by that time Germany were already two goals up and well in control of the game.

After the Socceroos were dispatched with very little effort, much of the post match debate focused on the relative merits of the two sides. Are the Germans are as good as they looked, or did a poor Australia make them seem more impressive than they actually are?

After just one game it's difficult to say - although Australia's patchy form in the run up to the tournament suggests they are not the force they were when they escaped Group F during World Cup 2006.

However, it does appear that Germany are the best team in the group and, although their games against Ghana and Serbia are likely to be much tougher, they look certain to qualify in first place.

After England's slip against the USA on Saturday this means Fabio Capello's men will need to buck up their ideas or risk finding out just how good this German side are at first hand.

The winners of Group D will face the Group C runners up in the last 16 and the Three Lions will be keen to avoid what could be an extremely tricky tie against a side who seem to have a psychological edge over them. World cup quarter-finals betting pundits would expect it to be a very tight game, after all.

Surely a potential tie against the Germans is all the motivation England need to win their last two games convincingly and top their group?