Germany clinch third place
Posted: Jul 10 2010
Germany got third place at the World Cup, claiming the bronze medal position after beating Uruguay 3-2.
A lively opening period saw the teams go into the break level. Die Mannschaft impressed early and moved ahead thanks to a predatory strike from Thomas Mueller but Edison Cavani had tied the scores by the interval.
The Celeste turned the game on its head when Diego Forlan’s technically wonderful volley found the net but their lead was also short lived, with Marcell Jansen, leveling matters. Sami Khedira won the game with a header late in the game.
The opening goal came about when a thunderous long range drive from Bastian Schweinsteiger was poorly dealt with by the Uruguayan keeper, who spilled the ball out into the middle of the box. Mueller reacted when others did not, giving himself a simple tap in from ten yards.
Die Mannschaft were at this stage creating regular inroads into the Celeste’s defence but wouldn’t even enjoy the lead for ten minutes.
Forlan had already worried the German rearguard with a blocked back post header from a deflected cross by the time Cavani drew the sides level. Perez superbly disposesed Schweinsteiger in the center of the park, setting in motion a break that saw the Europeans outnumbered from the outset. Luis Suarez rolled a well-weighted pass to the Palmero striker, who took a touch before stretching to prod the ball into the net.
The closing stages of the opening period, which were played out under heavy rain, did not bring the drama of the opening moments, though Uruguay might have grabbed the lead four minutes before the break. Forlan’s clever reverse pass released Suarez but the Ajax striker dragged his shot wide from a somewhat awkward angle.
The South Americans took the lead when Arevalo Rios found himself uncharacteristically far forward down the right and lobbed a waist-height cross back towards the edge of the box, from where Forlan showed stunning poise to volley home a terrific goal with his right foot to make the score 2-1.
Germany had posed no serious threat after the interval until they levelled up on 55 minutes. Jerome Boateng’s cross from deep on the right side was badly missed by the out-of-sorts Muslera, allowing Jansen to unconventionally knock the ball into the empty net with his head.
Loew’s side were looking the more likely side to snatch third place, and they did just that with nine minutes remaining. Another deep Oezil corner was allowed to bounce about the six yard box. Khedira ultimately got the decisive touch, sending a clever header looping over Muslera and into the top corner of the net.
The latter stages of the game were typically fraught. Uruguay pushed men forward in increasing numbers, allowing Germany to counter with purpose. Boateng had a firm shot saved well by Muslera, before a fluid counter ended with Kiessling scooping the ball over from close range.
In additional time, Suarez won a free kick on the edge of the Germany box. Forlan hovered, but the magic was not there as he blasted against the bar.
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: 2010-07-10 22:46
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