Australia beat Greece 1-0 Thursday on Josip Skoko's goal in the 16th minute in an exhibition game before a record soccer crowd of 95,103 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
FIFA World Cup hosts Germany are struggling to raise expectation levels at home after an unimpressive 2-1 win over Swiss club side Servette on Wednesday.
The prime minister declared a national holiday and tens of thousands of fans danced to steel drums and soca music when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for its first World Cup. For the tiny twin-island Caribbean nation, just making it to Germany was a remarkable accomplishment.
The Brazil World Cup squad was put through its paces for the first time since arriving in its Swiss training base.
Ranked number two in the world by FIFA, the Czech Republic hope to go one better at the soccer World Cup finals in Germany.
Italy qualified for the World Cup finals with relative ease and go to Germany as candidates to challenge Brazil for the title.
France coach Raymond Domenech believes playing with style is more important than winning matches in the World Cup.
"It's war," laughs entrepreneur Florian van Laar when asked about his battle with a rival for the heads of Dutch World Cup fans.
Ecuador held a lead for only three minutes and settled for a 1-1 draw with Colombia on Wednesday, its first of two preparation matches before the World Cup.
Mexico have often threatened to make a significant impact on the World Cup, only to bow out when the going gets tough.
Costa Rica opened its World Cup preparations with a 2-0 loss to a Catalonia select side on Wednesday, allowing a goal in each half and making little impact in the exhibition game before a crowd of 8,155 at Olympic Stadium.
"Professor" Branko Ivankovic used to be the darling of Iran's football federation and fans, introducing scientific methods to the Islamic Republic and drawing up performance charts on his players.
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