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 Chelsea's Ballack suffered a serious ankle injury in Sunday's FA Cup final thanks to a crude tackle from Portsmouth and Ghana midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng. The 33-year-old will miss the World Cup, robbing Germany of its most influential leader just four weeks out from its opening match against Australia at Durban on June 13.

Carney said the only blessing for Germany was that it occurred with at least some notice and coach Joachim Loew had a few warm-up games to try and find someone to fill the shoes of Ballack, who has played 98 matches for his country.

"That would destroy you, especially the preparations they've had leading into the World Cup. But I think considering it's happened now, so they can have two or three games before the World Cup and prepare. Germans are like that, they'll be very well prepared, and they'll fight back," he said.

Carney said that the loss of Ballack could prove a boost for Australia ahead of the opening match, but he believes Germany had the depth to cover him as a player.

"Unfortunate for Ballack, probably good news for us. Germans have got so much class, they'll easily replace him. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing for us in a way, Ballack is getting on a bit, we could exploit that. But he's a class player," he said.

Meanwhile, Carney weighed into the motivations behind Boateng's controversial tackle. The FC Twente winger said he was not surprised that the Portsmouth player had sought out Ballack given Ghana is set to play Germany in the World Cup.

"I think it was on purpose, considering he plays for Ghana. I thought that at the time. I think Ballack got him in the first instance, so he got him back. Obviously he's ruined his World Cup. I think he's had the last laugh," he said.

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