High stakes for Serbia and Australia in final match

The Serbs stunned Germany 1-0 last Friday to bounce back into last 16 contention after an opening loss to Ghana, while Australia were routed 4-0 by Germany and held Ghana to a 1-1 draw playing with 10 men. The Socceroos will have to find a replacement for experienced centre-back Craig Moore, who picked up his second yellow card of the tournament, while star attacker Harry Kewell is suspended after his red card for hand-ball on the goal-line against Ghana.

 Coach Pim Verbeek may go for defender Michael Beauchamp, who impressed as a substitute in friendlies against New Zealand and Denmark and whose height and strength may be needed to deal with Serbia's potent aerial threat from striker Nikola Zigic.One plus for the embattled Aussies is the return from a one-match suspension of Everton midfielder Tim Cahill.

-This whole week I've kept myself really fresh- Cahill said. -I'm really excited and ready to go. I'm sharp, I've made sure the manager can see I'm edgy to still be in the selection-

Skipper Lucas Neill believes the Socceroos can repeat their 2006 World Cup performance and reach the last 16 if they can beat Serbia and hope the Germany-Ghana match doesn't end in a draw.

-There is unbelievable belief within the team- Neill said.

-We are obviously hurt and we've given ourselves a mountain to climb in the first game, but we're still here and the nation shouldn't give up on us because we haven't given up-

Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic said Serbia would be treating Australia with the utmost respect in what's likely to be a match of high tension.

-All the teams who are here at the World Cup have good qualities, it's only small details which decide who is going to win- Vidic said.-That says something about the team. I'm sure it will be a difficult game.-

We respect Australia, they have four or five players who play in England at a high level

Nemanja Viidc

Coach Radomir Antic said he may rest some of his booked players against Australia. Defensive quartet Banislav Ivanovic, Vidic, Neven Subotic and Aleksandar Kolarov as well as Zigic and Zdravko Kuzmanovic are all one booking away from a suspension and could be ruled out of a possible second round game should Serbia progress.

-That is a lot of players with one booking and we still haven't decided what to do, it could be a last-minute decision- Antic said.

Australia have only played Serbia once before when they part of the former Yugoslavia and they won 1-0 at the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea, but this will be a considerable test. Anything that could go wrong has for the Socceroos at this ill-fated World Cup with straight red cards in consecutive matches for Cahill and Kewell, while Moore is suspended after two yellows. The big decisions have gone against them, while Serbia have given away a penalty for handball in each of their two matches in South Africa.

Australia have trouble scoring goals and their other problem is who will replace suspended key defender Craig Moore to take care of Serbia's strong attack led by giant striker Nikola Zigic and prompted by the playmaking skills of Milos Krasic and captain Dejan Stankovic in midfield.