Germany have often been unfairly labelled as boring and efficient, but their 4-0 hammering of the Socceroos will have silenced any critics. Their fast, slick and skilful play was as good as anything that Argentina produced on Saturday. The difference was that Germany were ruthless, and their future opponents should be very worried.

Germany were already 2-0 up and dominating when Australia's Tim Cahill was sent off for a clumsy challenge. There are already worries that referees are being too strict, as there have been four red cards in the first eight matches.

There was a harsh red card for Serbia's Aleksandar Lukovic, as his team lost 1-0 to Ghana. His second yellow card seemed unfair for what looked like a minor collision. Ghana deserved to win, although their goal came from a fortunate penalty when Kuzmanovic foolishly handled the ball in his own area.

In the day's other match, Slovenia beat Algeria's ten men after a disappointing error by Algeria's keeper Faouzi Chaouchi. Robert Koren tried to bend his shot into the corner but it went almost straight at Chaouchi, who let it slip past his hands. Algerian substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal had been on the pitch for just fifteen minutes when he collected a second yellow card for a needless handball. His daft decision did help to liven up the match, though, which up until that point had failed to give the crowd much to enjoy.

Results from day three:

Algeria 0-1 Slovenia

Serbia 0-1 Ghana

Germany 4-0 Australia