Germany pay penalty for imports

first things first, that was a refereeing performance that thankfully, has been a exception rather than a rule. The red card whilst harsh Klose has to take at least a little responsibility. Having been warned about challenging from behind just over a minute later he does the same thing, just catching the Serbian's ankle, it's a weak yellow card, but having been warned, why make the challenge? Also, if you've seen the referee giving out yellow cards for innocuous challenges, and have received one yourself, would you not hold back in your challenges until the break at least. Though let's not take anything away from the referee for a truly wretched performance.

All in all it was a pretty poor game, Serbia looked relatively solid but really quite uninspiring, Germany having had arguably the best game in round 1 (minus Switzerland) put some nice touches together, Klose had at least one good header in the 34 minutes he was on the pitch but didn't make it count. Podolski was wasteful in possession, a number of times, having possession out wide on the left he made the wrong choice, driving for goal rather than crossing, or pushing the ball in front of the keeper rather than an easy pull back. Less than a minute after losing Klose conceded what would be the only goal of the game. It's a lovely goal with a ball from Krasic after getting to the byline, Zigic rises at the back post and heads the ball down to Jovanovic who controls on his chest and beats Neuer with a lovely volley from close range.

The second half started with Germany dominating possession and you'd be hard pushed to guess the team with the extra man. The first 15 minutes belonged to Germany and they were justly rewarded with a penalty on the hour mark. it's Germany, it's a penalty, surely there's only one outcome. Polish born Podolski steps upo and hits a surprisingly weak penalty to the keepers left, no power, poor placement and straight into the keepers body. The keeper, not for the first time failed to hold onto the ball, a weakness that the Germans failed to exploit. Osil and Khedira were the pick of the German players, and Lahm ever consistent. Serbia dealt with everything in the air, especially once Klosse went off. Vidic won near everything in the air for Serbia, but the team mates in front of him did little to relieve the pressure on the defence. Schweinsteiger who was so dominant against Australia struggled to pull the strings in a similar manner this time. A flurry of German substitutes, Gomes, Marin and Cacau failed to make any real impact. Group D is now in the hands of the Black Stars, who wants to finish second now?