All the Rovers are rover and out

All four of the Rovers players taking part in the World Cup have bit the dust at the group stages with their respective national sides.

Lars Jacobsen’s Denmark were the last to make an early exit after a 3-1 defeat to Japan last night – who qualified at their expense.

Vince Grella and Brett Emerton lost out to Ghana and Germany in group D despite an excellent last game win over Serbia.

Finally, Ryan Nelsen’s New Zealand finished in third in group E but actually finished the campaign unbeaten after three credible draws against Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay… all this despite being tipped for the ‘whipping boys’ tag in their section.

Not a great World Cup for our Rovers but some good performances to remember, particularly Brett Emerton being the only good Aussie player in the 4-0 to Germany and Ryan Nelsen, who was outstanding in the 1-1 draw with Italy.