Germany crush Aussies
Posted: Jun 13 2010
Germany beat Australia 4-0 in a Group D World Cup encounter played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday night.
The goals were scored by Lukas Podolsk, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Muller and Cacau. Australia played most of the second half with 10-men after having Tim Cahill red carded.
Australia took no time to get started, and should have gone a goal ahead within three minutes. Following a corner, Cahill's header was blocked by Germany captain Philipp Lahm, and Garcia's follow-up was also deflected away from goal.
It wasn't long before Germany found their feet. After Mesut Ozil nearly played Lukas Podolski through on goal, the young playmaker found Klose breaking away from Vincenzo Grella. The Bayern Munich striker raced to the edge of the penalty area, but Mark Schwarzer made a good save to deny him.
Moments later, Ozil slipped a clever ball through to Mueller, who pulled back for Podolski. The Koeln man fired with his first touch, blasting in off Schwarzer's hand to put the Germans ahead.
The Germans would soon punish their opponents for poor finishing. The catalyst, Ozil, first played a fine ball that resulted in Klose missing a wide-open shot from the centre of the penalty area. Then, Lahm sent an inch-perfect cross to Klose that fooled Schwarzer. The goalkeeper raced off his line, but failed to collect the ball as Klose emphatically headed home his 11th World Cup goal.
Only in the dying moments of the first half did Australia manage to bring the ball back into their attacking third, but Garcia posed a very lonely figure in the penalty box.
The first half ended with Germany comfortably ahead as a dejected Australian side was left to figure out how to find their way back into the game.
Within seven minutes, Holman nearly pulled a goal back for Australia. The substitute created space away from Friedrich and fired from 20 yards, but missed wide of the right post.
The Australians' momentum would soon run out, and their hopes of taking anything from the game were vanquished after 56 minutes, when Cahill was sent off for a poor foul on Bastian Schweinsteiger. The Everton midfielder tried to pull out of his challenge, but was late and connected with the German's ankle, which was enough to earn a straight red card.
As the final quarter of the game approached, Podolski fed a through ball to Mueller, who wisely stopped his run to create space. The Bayern Munich attacker then struck a precise effort off the inside of the left post to make the score 3-0.
Even with a comfortable lead, Loew decided to keep attacking, and next substituted Cacau in place of Klose. With his first touch, the Stuttgart striker slotted into make it 4-0.
The result puts Germany atop Group D, ahead of Ghana on goal difference. After Serbia's loss earlier today, Australia still have a chance to advance to the knockout rounds, but have a mountain to climb.
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: 2010-06-13 22:48
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