The Socceroos' World Cup looks dead and buried after they were destroyed by a brilliant Germany 4-0 and had Tim Cahill sent off in their Group D opening match.

Australia were mercilessly carved up by the Germans, whose young midfield playmaker Mesut Ozil put on a masterclass as his side produced the best football of the tournament so far.

The Germans had the match parcelled up by halftime with goals to Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose.

Then any slim hopes of an Australian revival disappeared in the 57th minute when Cahill was marched for his challenge on German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Goals to Thomas Muller and Cacau in the space of two second half minutes then followed to finish off Australia for the biggest defeat they have suffered in coach Pim Verbeek's reign, and they now need a miracle to qualify for the second stage of the tournament.

Verbeek admitted his side was outclassed by Germany and would have to win their next match against Ghana on June 19 in Rustenberg to have any chance to advancing to the second stage.

Germany now sit top of Group D, with Ghana - who beat Serbia 1-0 in Pretoria earlier on Sunday - also on three points.

Australia is bottom of the table on goal difference.

"It was not an easy game for us. Germany was better," Verbeek said.

"We all knew they were a candidate for this World Cup because they have a fantastic team. We have to learn from this game, and we have six days to recover physically and mentally."

Adding further to Australia's woes is that Cahill will miss the Ghana match because of an automatic one-match ban for his send-off.

It was Ozil's combination with winger Muller down the right-hand channel which lit up the match as the Socceroos' lack of pace at the back was exposed with ruthless German efficiency.

The duo set up Podolski for the opening goal on eight minutes - Ozil finding Muller with a pinpoint through ball, before the winger pulled the ball back for Podolski to smash into the top of the net.

From there it was all Germany, and Muller created the second after 26 minutes for Klose.

His perfect cross found Klose steaming in ahead of Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to head home for the German's 11th goal in World Cup finals.

Germany could have easily had a third by halftime, but Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill cleared off the line as Ozil threaded a ball past Schwarzer towards goal.

The rout continued after the break as Australia were forced to commit men forward to chase a goal.

Schwarzer was forced into two good saves.

Then after Cahill was red-carded by Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez to leave them with 10 men, an inevitable third came as more sparkling German movement led to Muller slotting home in the 68th minute.

Substitute Cacau added a fourth two minutes later set up by Ozil, who was mercifully substituted with 15 minutes remaining to give Australia's defence some respite.

Germany's coach Joachim Low said he was pleased with his side's clinical performance, though he felt there was still room for improvement.

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