Forget sausage, German breakfast is now pasta

ERASMIA, South Africa (Reuters) - Germany's traditional breakfast of sausage, ham and cheese has been replaced by pasta as players fill up on carbohydrates early in the day for Friday's Group D clash against Serbia.

The team has been trying to simulate matchday conditions in the past few days with their game in Port Elizabeth set for a 1330 kickoff (12:30 p.m. British time), an unusual time for German players, who were forced to drop their usual protein-rich breakfast.

"It takes a bit of getting used to, having a bowl of pasta at 10 in the morning," said Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff on Thursday, before departing for the southern coastal city.

But, given the early start, players needed to take on carbs to boost their energy levels some three hours prior to the game.

Germany, who impressively won their opener against Australia 4-0, have also changed their training times to 1330 local to get players used to competing at that time.

"Even when we have a 2030 (1830 GMT) start of a match, around five o'clock we have coffee and there is some pasta on the side," he told reporters.

Their final group match is against Ghana on June 23 at Johannesburg's Soccer City.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)