To see the Socceroos train overnight...

Defender Per Mertesacker says the Germans will be looking to play the Everton star out of the game.

"Tim Cahill has enormous experience and has grown tremendously in England, he is one of Australia's most dangerous players and will be their midfield maestro," he told AFP.

"But if we can mark him tightly, it will make it hard for him to play a role."

The 2006 defender raised the possibility of double marking Cahill, who remains under an injury cloud after missing Socceroos training on Tuesday with neck soreness.

"We will try and nip his attacks in the bud, and even maybe double mark him," he said.

"But he is still dangerous and can create chances in front of goal, so it will be hard to contain him."

The Germans aren't taking the Socceroos lightly, with Mertesacker also wary of target man Josh Kennedy.

"He is a very robust player, very good in the air and uses his body to get some advantage, so the aerial battles will be challenging," he said from experience he has had with Kennedy in the Bundesliga.

Germany won the last meeting between the two sides 4-3 in the 2005 Confederations Cup, but the Werder Bremen defender wants a tighter defensive unit this time around.

He admits the tactics around the clash with the Socceroos will be more intensely looked at in the coming days.

"We haven't dealt with the issues around Australia so intensely yet, that will come in the next few days,' he said.

"The next few training sessions will be decisive to get organised come the Australia game. We are all really dying to get cracking after all this time waiting.''

The 25-year-old 198cm centre back wants Germany to make a bright start and admits a defeat in the opening game against the Socceroos would be a horror start.

He added: "We are concentrating on the first group game, because we know a lot can happen in the group stages, especially early on.

"We need to get as many points as possible, as soon as possible.

"I don't want to be negative about it, but it would be a very bad start for us to lose the opening game to Australia."

To see the Socceroos train overnight...