Serbia, Australia eye knockout stage

Soccer Betting Lines

06/22/2010 - Nelspruit, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both Serbia and Australia have been through their share of ups and downs after two matches in Group D at the FIFA World Cup.

But when they get together at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday in the final group stage match for both sides, the only thing that matters is what happens on the field that day.

Australia has had a player sent off in both of its matches with Tim Cahill earning a questionable straight red card against Germany in a 4-0 defeat before Harry Kewell received an early exit for handling the ball on his own goal line against Ghana.

The Socceroos led the Black Stars, 1-0, at the time of the incident, but they still were able to hold out for a 1-1 draw, which pleased manager Pim Verbeek.

"We went ahead and it was going well. Once we went down to 10 men we had to work very hard, and I think that's what they did," Verbeek said. "I'm proud of the players - playing with a man less for that long is not easy. We're still in the race but it's going to be difficult now."

Verbeek is right because Australia will need to not only beat Serbia, but also hope that Ghana knocks off Germany in the group's other match. The Aussies can also get through with a Germany draw, but they would need a huge win over Serbia.

Cahill will return to the team for the match, but Verbeek will be without both Kewell and defender Craig Moore because of suspension.

The equation is much simpler for Radomir Antic's team, which will advance to the second round with a win.

Serbia conceded a penalty kick in the last five minutes of its 1-0 loss to Ghana, but benefited from a poor call against Germany as the Germans lost Miroslav Klose to a pair of yellow cards after only 37 minutes.

Despite the advantage, Serbia was only able to come away with a 1-0 win, and it was left defending for large portions of the second half, something Antic was surprised by.

"We played very well in the first half, and we set out to protect the lead after halftime," the manager said. "We ended up playing very defensively. We actually intended to get forward more than that, but they put us under all kinds of pressure."

Serbia's attack has been underwhelming through two games, although it did hit the frame twice in the second half of the Germany game.

But despite a lack of scoring punch, Serbia is just one win away from reaching the knockout round.

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