But now the 23-year-old brothers are reunited for the World Cup.

They say it's a bonus for the team because they can anticipate each other's moves.

"I know what he wants, he knows what I want, and that's an advantage," said Philipp Degen, a defender.

David, a midfielder, said he never felt jealous of his brother's earlier success.

"I was always happy for him with all my heart, and supported him. Now that we are together at the World Cup, it's a dream come true," he admitted.

Philipp was called to the national squad last year, while his brother was tapped just last month. In 2005, Philipp moved from FC Basel to Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, while David remained with Basel.

David said that in their Basel days, there was an easy flow between them.

"But we could also overdo it in keeping the ball between us, which we don't want to do (here). There are 11 in a team, and we have to play with all 11," he said.

The Degens are the first twins on a national team since Frank and Ronald De Boer started for The Netherlands in the 1990s.

Many players are eager to get started and prove themselves against the French. They meet in a Group G match on Tuesday in Stuttgart.

"With every day, we feel more butterflies in the stomach," said David Degen. "The tension is rising."

Pessimistic France
Reuters, Paris

A vast majority of French fans would be surprised if France were to become world champions for the second time.

A poll conducted by the Ifop institute showed 66 percent of the 1,003 asked believed the 1998 champions would not go all the way in the World Cup finals in Germany.

The poll, to be published by Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, showed 69 percent wanted newcomer Franck Ribery to start France's opening match against Switzerland on Tuesday in Stuttgart.

South Korea and Togo are France's other opponents in Group G.

Call for patriotismReuters, Berlin

The German public should join the players in a show of patriotism at their home World Cup, defender Christoph Metzelder said on Sunday.

German players linked arms and sang the national anthem with pride in the build-up to Friday's first World Cup match against Costa Rica in Munich on 4-2.

"It's a difficult issue because of the nation's past," Metzelder, renowned as one of the most intelligent and thoughtful members of the German squad, said at a news conference.

"But to be successful at the World Cup we need fitness, team spirit, luck and a large measure of patriotism.

"We are at home and want to show that we are playing for the crowd and for Germany as a whole. It would be great if the German public followed our gesture."

The issue of public displays of patriotism was highlighted last year when renowned singers at two separate sporting events in Germany managed to get the words of the national anthem wrong.

The anthem used to begin with the line, "Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles, ueber alles in der Welt" (Germany above everything in the world), words that obviously took on a menacing flavour during the Nazi regime.

The anthem as sung now begins with the third verse, extolling: "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" or "Unity, justice and liberty".

Germany play Poland in their next Group A match on June 14 in Dortmund.

Why empty seats?
Afp, Berlin

German organisers admit they are confused as to why there were close to 6,000 empty seats at the Netherlands-Serbia and Montenegro World Cup match in Leipzig on Sunday, as they expected a full house.

A crowd of 37,216 attended the Group C match - won 1-0 by the Netherlands - short of the 43,000 capacity at Leipzig's World Cup stadium.

"The game was in fact sold out with 43,000 fans. We will look into the mistake," said Gerd Graus, a spokesman for the organising committee.

"We investigate who the free spaces belonged to. The tickets were not handed back to us, otherwise we would have put them up for public sale."

Before the tournament German organisers said they expected all of the 64 matches at the finals to have capacity crowds.

One way traffic
Afp, Berlin

The well-travelled Dick Advocaat loves one particular aspect of coaching South Korea -- the players do not talk back.

"The South Korean team is very disciplined and in that way it is easier than working with European teams," said the former Holland, Glasgow Rangers and Borussia Monchengladbach coach. "In Europe - Germany, Holland, wherever - the players like to talk to coaches about decisions they make - in Korea they (the players) always follow the leader. I think I am in the right job."

Playing ping pong
Afp, Berlin

France defender William Gallas says he is passing the time on his days off between ping-pong and domino sessions, watching DVDs and listening to music on his i-Pod, as well as reading the biography of former NBA star Dennis Rodman.

"I like this character," said the Chelsea defender vis-a-vis Rodman, known for his "bad boy" Hollywood image as well as his haul of NBA titles.