Monday, November 29, 1999

Serbia shock 10-man Germany 1-0

News posted by www.newsinfoline.com

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), June 18 (PTI) Serbia pulled off a 1-0 upset win over 10-man Germany in a dramatic Group D clash of the FIFA World Cup that saw the ejection of Miroslav Klose here today. Playing in their maiden World Cup finals after separating from Montenegro, Serbia scored the matchwinner through Milan Jovanovic in the 38th minute to script the third upset of the tournament after Mexico''s 2-0 shock win over France and Switzerland''s 1-0 victory against Spain. The Germans also paid the price for Lukas Podolski''s shocking squandering of a penalty in the 60th minute of match which saw the ejection of German striker Miloslav Klose after his second bookable offence, besides seven other yellow cards. After today''s result, Group D remained open with Germany, Serbia and Ghana on three points each. Germany had beaten Australia 4-0 while Serbia had lost 0-1 to Ghana in the campaign openers. Three-time champions Germany were nowhere near their superb performance against Australia and they failed to penetrate the Serbian defence manned, among others, by Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. The Germans had more ball possession but their upfront comprising Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller, Lukas Podolski, Klose and Mesut Oetzil failed to produce a clear opening except for one in the last minute of the first half. The match turned on its head with Klose getting the marching orders from Spanish referee Alberto Undaio for his second booking in the 37th minute and immediately Serbia took the lead with Jovanovic finding the back of the German net next minute. Nikola Zigic, who stands at six feet eight inches, headed down a Milos Krasic cross from the right flank for Jovanovic to fire home with a left footer in the 38th minute. Germany could have equalised but Sami Khedira''s right footer from inside the Serbian box only rattled the crossbar during the one-minute added time of the first session. One-man short than their opponents, Germany still had more shots at the goal at the initial stages of the second session but they failed to find the target. In the 58th minute, Podolski fired wide under pressure from a Serbian defender before hitting the side netting next minute. At the hour mark, Vidic unnecessarily handled the ball inside the Srrbian box while trying to reach a cross from the left but Podolski failed to convert the resulting spot kick as his low shot was blocked by keeper Vladimir Stojkovic. The Serbians though came close to scoring twice with goal scorer Jovanovic rattling the the crosspiece in the 68th minute and then a Zigic heading sailing over after glancing the bar six minutes later.

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