Germany battles back to finish third
Source: Agencies |
July 12, 2010, Monday
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GERMANY showed its legendary resilience on Saturday when it came from behind to beat Uruguay 3-2 in a thrilling third-place World Cup playoff in Port Elizabeth.
Having led early on, the Germans fell 1-2 behind early in the second half but equalized soon after and Sami Khedira headed the winner eight minutes from time.
There was still time for great chances at both ends with Diego Forlan hitting the bar with a stoppage-time freekick.
Forlan and Thomas Mueller, scorer of Germany's opener, both finish the tournament on five goals, level with Spain's David Villa and Wesley Sneijder of Netherlands, who can of course add to their tally in the final.
"When we were trailing we could see the strength of this team. I'm so happy to see them turn it around," said coach Joachim Loew.
"Champions rise again, we rose to the occasion again. We have every reason to be fully satisfied, no reason for disappointment, we will travel home feeling great."
Uruguay too deserves huge credit for its attacking approach in the match but had to settle for fourth, just as it did last time it reached the semifinals in 1970 when it was also beaten by then-West Germany in the playoff.
Great opponent
"We showed our purpose and intentions, on a level playing field against a great opponent," said coach Oscar Tavarez. "We showed we can play any team in the world, there's nothing above this. We lost, but we could have won."
Saturday's game was the sixth time in a row at this tournament that a European team beat a South American one - turning the tables completely from the six-game sequence at the start when the South Americans were unbeaten against Europeans.
Mueller scored after 19 minutes after Fernando Muslera failed to hold Bastian Schweinsteiger's long-range shot. Uruguay levelled after 28 minutes through Edinson Cavani after Diego Perez had robbed Schweinsteiger on the halfway line.
Uruguay continued to surge forward after the break and went ahead in the 51st minute when Forlan expertly volleyed in a cross by Egidio Arevalo, only for Marcell Jansen to rise high to head in a cross from Jerome Boateng five minutes later.
Germany struck again as a Mesut Ozil corner bounced around in the box before Khedira nodded it in. Then with the very last kick of the match Forlan curved in a superb freekick only to sink to his knees in disbelief as it crashed against the bar and out to safety.
"It just missed by a fraction," said the striker. "I'm pretty tired but it's over now and it's time to rest."
Having led early on, the Germans fell 1-2 behind early in the second half but equalized soon after and Sami Khedira headed the winner eight minutes from time.
There was still time for great chances at both ends with Diego Forlan hitting the bar with a stoppage-time freekick.
Forlan and Thomas Mueller, scorer of Germany's opener, both finish the tournament on five goals, level with Spain's David Villa and Wesley Sneijder of Netherlands, who can of course add to their tally in the final.
"When we were trailing we could see the strength of this team. I'm so happy to see them turn it around," said coach Joachim Loew.
"Champions rise again, we rose to the occasion again. We have every reason to be fully satisfied, no reason for disappointment, we will travel home feeling great."
Uruguay too deserves huge credit for its attacking approach in the match but had to settle for fourth, just as it did last time it reached the semifinals in 1970 when it was also beaten by then-West Germany in the playoff.
Great opponent
"We showed our purpose and intentions, on a level playing field against a great opponent," said coach Oscar Tavarez. "We showed we can play any team in the world, there's nothing above this. We lost, but we could have won."
Saturday's game was the sixth time in a row at this tournament that a European team beat a South American one - turning the tables completely from the six-game sequence at the start when the South Americans were unbeaten against Europeans.
Mueller scored after 19 minutes after Fernando Muslera failed to hold Bastian Schweinsteiger's long-range shot. Uruguay levelled after 28 minutes through Edinson Cavani after Diego Perez had robbed Schweinsteiger on the halfway line.
Uruguay continued to surge forward after the break and went ahead in the 51st minute when Forlan expertly volleyed in a cross by Egidio Arevalo, only for Marcell Jansen to rise high to head in a cross from Jerome Boateng five minutes later.
Germany struck again as a Mesut Ozil corner bounced around in the box before Khedira nodded it in. Then with the very last kick of the match Forlan curved in a superb freekick only to sink to his knees in disbelief as it crashed against the bar and out to safety.
"It just missed by a fraction," said the striker. "I'm pretty tired but it's over now and it's time to rest."
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