Latest Group D news ahead of the World Cup in South Africa which starts on June 11.AUSTRALIACoach Pim Verbeek has declared he will play his best side against New Zealand in a friendly on May 24, but said Harry Kewell will not be fit enough for selection.The former Leeds and Liverpool playmaker, who is recovering from a groin injury, told Australian media that his recovery had suffered after Turkish doctors working with his club Galatasaray used staples to fix his groin which may have led to nerve damage earlier this year.Despite his injury-plagued career, Kewell said he had no intention of retiring any time soon and hoped to be fit enough for selection for play Brazil in 2014.GERMANYGermany's World Cup hopes suffered a severe blow on Monday when captain Michael Ballack was ruled out of the finals in South Africa with an ankle injury.It was also a personal setback for 33-year-old Ballack, who was set to play at his third World Cup and is unlikely to get another chance to perform on the sport's biggest stage.Chelsea midfielder Ballack was injured in the first half of Saturday's English FA Cup final against Portsmouth, limping off during the first-half of his team's 1-0 win after a late tackle by Kevin-Prince Boateng.German-born Boateng, booked for the tackle, is in the provisional squad of their first round opponents Ghana.GHANAPortsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng has had his application to play for Ghana in the upcoming World Cup approved by FIFA, world football's governing body said.Boateng had previously played for Germany at under-20 level but because he has dual nationality and had not been capped at senior level by the Germans, is free to play for the Black Stars."The Ghana Football Association were notified of the decision last week," a FIFA spokesman told Reuters.SERBIAStriker Dragan Mrdja did his hopes of breaking into Serbia's final 23-man World Cup squad no harm when he scored four goals in Vojvodina Novi Sad's 7-0 drubbing of Napredak Krusevac on the final day of the season.Mrdja, who appears to be at the bottom of coach Radomir Antic's pecking order, finished as the Serbian first division's top scorer with 22 league goals from 30 matches.Right back Pavle Ninkov said he had no hard feelings about being left out of the provisional squad although he was disappointed not to be among the 30 players named by Antic."The coach is the only person qualified to make that decision and no player left out of the loop has any right to complain, especially after Antic steered Serbia to the World Cup finals," Ninkov told local media.(Editing by Miles Evans; To query or comment on this story emailsportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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