LiveBlog: Germany-Poland
Germany won this late with substitute Neuville scoring in injury time to break Polish hearts, especially keeper Boruc who had put in a great performance to deny Klose time after time.
A physical encounter (mirroring the fighting in the streets) with not much in the way of attractive football but plenty of meaty tackles. Poland still alive mathematically, but they’ll be finished if Ecuador either beat or draw with Costa Rica tomorrow.
Final: Germany 1-0 Poland
-My heart goes out to Boruc, but Sobolewski will have to take some of the blame. His early exit did Poland no favours. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and left comments.
-OK, Poland not mathematically out. But we all know they are really.
Full-time Poland are out. Germany get a famous victory. Scrappy, aggressive game but strangely entertaining in parts, especially after the red card.
91:00 GOOAL! Neuville slides in to score from a low Odonkor cross. Massive celebrations.
89:30 !!!!!!!!!! Klose hits the bar, Ballack hits the bar again from follow up. But he’s offside.
88:00 Borowski comes close with a low shot from distance.
84:00 German fans not looking too happy, but a draw isn’t such a bad result Group A wise.
80:00 Germany piling on the pressure now. Another shot saved by Boruc. Not sure who from. (it was Neuville)
79:30 Schneider dribbles through from the left and shoots. Boruc saves!
77:00 Germany briefly pass the ball on the floor. Haven’t seen that for a while.
76:00 We’ll see if Germany can press home this advantage.
74:00 Red card for Sobolewski. Second yellow for a clumsy tackle, pulling back Klose. He can’t complain about that. Still, first use of the showers…
72:00 Great sliding tackle from Mertesacker in his area.
70:00 Podolski off, Oliver Neuville on.
69:00 Klose runs down the touchline at pace, another sliding tackle stops him.
67:30 US viewers know what I’m talking about, right?
66:00 I can’t see what’s happening! ESPN has one of it’s massive black boxes covering half the screen. Univision sounds tempting.
65:00 Odonkor shows great pace to burn the Polish left back. Cross is blocked for a corner. Corner floated in but headed over by a German player. Not sure who.
64:30 Ball falls to Klose. The big man strikes it well, but Boruc makes a great save.
63:38 Odonkor on for Friedrich
62:30 Ballack down holding his ankle after a nasty challenge. He’s back up but not looking happy about it.
61:45 Klose shoots straight at Boruc again. He seems to be all alone up front. Odonkor warming up for Germany.
61:00 Beautiful Beckhamesque ball from Ballack nearly finds Klose in the area. Nearly.
58:00 Yellow for Ballack for a dirty foul.
56:45 Jelen shoots straight at Lehmann. Again. The quality of the shooting has been awful. If you were facing a firing squad, you’d want these 22 guys holding the rifles.
56:00 Hairy German fan shouting something in anger. I wouldn’t mess with him.
54:00 I’m wondering how long Ballack will last. He can’t be properly match fit.
50:45 Klose just fails to connect with a cross.
49:00 This game still making up in fouls what it lacks in quality. Did I say earlier that it was like an English Premiership game? I meant English League Two game.
47:00 Boruc catches the ball mid jump, and nearly carries it outside of his area. Sensibly lets go just in time. He gets the free kick anyway for a rough challenge on him.
45 Second half underway.
—-
Half-time No goals at half time. Absolutely great game though. Especially if you like slide tackles.
45:44 Great passing picks Poland apart. Podolski with a chance in the 6 yard box. Pulls it just wide. That was THE chance.
42:50 Great sliding tackle from Mertesacker in his own area. This game has had the most sliding tackles ever.
41:00 Podolski runs at the defence, shot is blocked well.
40:00 Schweinsteiger balloons a shot over the bar.
37:00 Bak literally jumps on top of Klose in the corner. Free kick. It’s like he was trying to mount him.
36:00 Frings back on field after recovering from his nose bleed. Blood on his shirt though. That’ll never come out in the wash.
35:00 Podolski turns nicely and shoots. Straight at Boruc though.
34:0Great challenges as Smolarek and Friedrich slide into each other. Crunchtastic.
30:00 Still goalless. Podolski nearly goes through the middle. Great block from Bak.
28:45 Camera shows Der Kaiser Beckenbauer in the stand. He has no expression in his face. Probably nervous.
28:00 Sobolewski booked for cynically taking Ballack down. Ballack adopts the foetal poistion for a while.
27:00 Jelen (of sliding tackle fame) with a shot straight at Lehmann. Jelen definitely part of the difference between this performance and last Friday’s.
26:00 This is a different Polish team. Not the clueless eleven we saw against Ecuador.
24:00 Perfectly timed sliding tackle from Jelen on Lahm. Lahm not impressed, he kicks at Jelen’s ankles.
22:00 We’re still scoreless here.
20:00 So close!!! Lahm crossed from the left and Klose got a free header, but nodded it just wide. The whole of Poland breathes a sigh of relief.
19:00 Still really scrappy. Like watching an oversized childrens game, where they all swarm to the ball.
17:30 Schneider takes down Zewlakov. You could hear the Polish player scream.
16:00 Klose and Zewlakov battle for the ball in Poland’s right corner. There are some big fellas out there today. Klose fouled Zewlakov though.
13:30 Still no goals. Can’t see it staying that way though.
11:20 Rubbish corner from Schweinsteiger.
10:30 This is looking a lot like an English Premiership game. Which is a good thing.
:9:15 Klose replies with a shot at Boruc, who saves well.
8:30 Zurawski with a shot at Lehmann.
8:08 Lots of long balls from Poland, going straight to Lehmann.
5:00 Fast, physical stuff so far. Good viewing.
3:00Schneider nailed by Kryznowek. He looks in pain. Polish player (not spelling that again) booked.
1:25 Klose fouls Polish keeper Boruc in the air. Crowd sounds lively.
0 We’re off!
-121 arrests in Dotmund today, apparently.
-How do Polish fans feel about Polish-born Klose and Podolski wearing German jerseys tonight?
-Germany 4-4-2, same line up as faced Ecuador only Ballack in for Borowski.
-Poland have gone back to 4-4-2, after the 4-5-1 went down like a lead balloon against Ecuador.
-Players shake hands, but no smiles.
-Now the Germans.
-Polish national anthem. Sing along if you know the words.
-Great to see Ballack back playing again. Unless you’re a Poland fan, obviously.
-20 minutes or so till kick off. We’re expecting some aggressive stuff. Poland looked pretty poor against a decent Ecuador team, but there’s national pride at stake for this one.
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Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 369 comments.
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By aga | June 15th, 2006 at 1:30 am 
What a game!
And what a German’s luck…
In the last minute…
I’m so sad…
What a collapse ;(
Tommorow, of course, i’ll cheering on a Costa Rica. It’s our last chance…
By aga | June 15th, 2006 at 1:31 am What a game!
And what a German’s luck…
In the last minute…
I’m so sad…
What a collapse ;(
Tommorow, of course, i’ll cheering on a Costa Rica. It’s our last chance…
By DenBreaker | June 15th, 2006 at 1:50 am So, thats it. We played very well, polish guys just standing 70 minutes on there own side after they accept there is no chance to beat us. So they want a draw, but no way with the great play by Odonkor and Neuville at the injury time! Great job guy´s!
Maybe we scored another goal if the injury time will be played 10 minutes, for Boric terrible time-play all over the game. Great play also by >>>Philip Lahm>>2oo6
Posted from 
United States
By jithu | June 15th, 2006 at 1:51 am hell of one sided game…..Lehman was snoring inside the goalpost.he was up in the 91st min for sure ! Klose missed a lot,thanks to the Polish keeper..he was emulating Hislop,but for the goal.red card and the late substitution cost the match for Pol
Posted from 
India
By karl | June 15th, 2006 at 1:51 am Jack,
after Klose and Ballack hit the bar, a german player was on the ground in the 6 yard box to get the rebound, the Polish defence then moved up putting him in an offside position, he got up and passed the ball back to Odonkor in an onside position, but since he had come from an offside position to make the pass, offside was called.
I hope that helps, I forget exactly who it was that was on the ground and made the pass back. The call was the correct and I knew it was going to be called before the ball was in net, luckily not for the last time that day.
Posted from United States
By Football Freak | June 15th, 2006 at 1:51 am Germany vs Sweden
England vs Ecuador
Thats the Round of 16 from now on..
Great game anyways especially the last 15 mins
Bye
Posted from United States
By DenBreaker | June 15th, 2006 at 1:54 am Postest from United States? No, from good old Germany! Schwarz Rot Gold, gewöhnt euch schonmal an die Farben, die werdet ihr noch oft genug sehen hehe
Posted from United States
By Total Football | June 15th, 2006 at 2:18 am Fantastic game, fantastic result, Poland wins respect for a dogged defense, but it wasn’t all Poland: luck too played its part in Poland’s behalf, and then it finally ran out, as it should (otherwise it would have been too ridiculous: providence is not so worthy of deference). Germany deserves this one.
But remember: Ballack was a no-show in this game. He was the Ronaldo of Germany: overrated, underachieving in this World Cup.
Germany is moving on, Poland deserves to go home, and let’s hope gritty Ecuador writes that ticket in its match against Costa Rica tomorrow.
Posted from United States
By June 14: The Daily World Cup Wrap - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | June 15th, 2006 at 2:52 am [...] Other World Cup Stuff World Cup Store World Cup Betting Mobile Phone World Cup World Cup Photos World Cup Videos World Cup Marketplace World Cup Tickets Travel to Germany Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, Home » Daily Wrap Up « LiveBlog: Germany-Poland | Home | Ronaldowatch™ Caption Contest » [...]
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By Jack | June 15th, 2006 at 3:01 am Karl,
Thanks for the explaination! The offsides rule seems way more complicated than it needs to be.
Going back to that situation where the ball hit the crossbar twice, I had always thought if the ball went first beyond the defenders, you were not offsides. So what you are saying is that even though the ball was already past the defenders when the German player on the ground made contact, he is still considered offsides?
How is that…ok, that is confusing.
By pf | June 15th, 2006 at 3:06 am DenBreaker
It would be quite the riot if Germany didn’t make it at least to the quarter finals…
But then the question becomes, will we see “Die Farben” after that? Now you only have England, Argentina, Holland, Serbia, Portugal and Mexico to face….
Only time will tell!
Posted from United States
By pf | June 15th, 2006 at 3:09 am Jack.
There are some guidelines that could help here:
http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/eu/fifa/regen.pdf
Posted from United States
By Wonka | June 15th, 2006 at 3:39 am Them Krauts done it again,it aint fair.
Posted from United States
By Sarah | June 15th, 2006 at 3:45 am Absolutely brilliant game by the Germans and the Poles. Congrats to the Germans for the win (and subsequent advancement) and the Poles for the great effort.
Posted from United States
By dirk | June 15th, 2006 at 4:30 am The Brits, as usual, hoping to get to the second round (that is, if they can score a goal). And Germany should be worried? I don’t think so. England talks a good game, but they never live up to it. The Brits will be lucky to beat T&T. They don’t have any colonies any more and they aren’t the football masters either. Poor Britannia
Posted from United States
By Karl | June 15th, 2006 at 7:20 am Jack and anyone else curious about the offside call,
I went back and looked at the play again, Klose first kicks it off the corssbar so the ball is ahead of Ballack who kicks it and hits the corss bar too. He’s onside until the ball bounces back behind him because the 2 Polish defenders chase the ball back leaving Ballack behind them on the ground. So then when he get’s up and plays the ball it’s from an offside position because only the keeper was ahead of him when the ball was played.
Posted from United States
By Raybron | June 15th, 2006 at 7:56 am Karl-
Yep, that’s exactly what happened. It’s not really that complicated, if a guy plays a ball in and there’s someone behind the last defender he will get called if he touches the ball. I think people get confused because they think a close-quarters or rebound situation somehow changes the rule (or maybe it is a natural instinct to think this) but it doesn’t. Now say someone shoots and scores from behind the defense and there just so happens to be an offensive player loitering past the last defender but he is not involved in the play that is obviously not offsides (or we’d miss out on a lot of great goals). I could dig up the technicalities, but that is the gist of it.
Posted from United States
By Jack | June 15th, 2006 at 8:13 am Thanks to everyone (Karl, PF, Raybron) for helping me try to understand how offsides worked in this case, and being patient with my learning curve.
Raybron, you were right, I had assumed (wrongly) that the offfsides rule would not apply on rebounds. Let me see if I finally got it right: if Ballack had got up and taken a shot on goal, he would be fine. But because he tried to pass backwards to Ondonker AND he was behind the last defenders that made him (the play/pass?) offsides?
By Tom | June 15th, 2006 at 10:33 am It makes no difference whether he passes backwards, or forward, or whether he tries to score. Where Ballack was in that situation, and where the ball came from, Ballack was offside the moment he plays the ball. Full stop.
Actually I was under the impression the ref blew the whistle immediately, well before Odonkor let rip. Considering Odonkor already had a booking to his name, he was lucky not to be sent off for timewasting under stupid FIFA rules.
Posted from 
Germany
By Dave Hamilton | June 15th, 2006 at 1:16 pm FRANKOWSKI’S REVENGE, I remind you!!! How many times did you see Poland threaten ANYTHING on the left? If I am not mistaken, their leading goal-sorer in qualies also is left-footed…er, DUH! Janas is G-O-N-E!
Posted from United States
By Usama | June 15th, 2006 at 3:14 pm well it was a tough match and deutschland deserved to win after all.
i think deutschland gave the best performance up till now
Posted from 
Jordan
By Linne | June 15th, 2006 at 6:05 pm The Trinis are on. Hope they can conquer the GB. Still does not have access to TV at my desk only have to hear from you guys what is happening. I have a kind of loyalty to my employers, that is the Trinis, but I also have ties in the English Isle.
Posted from 
Jamaica
By Linne | June 15th, 2006 at 6:09 pm Can anyone tell me how to access univision?
Posted from Jamaica
By Ala | June 19th, 2006 at 5:13 pm no matter how well we played we have to pack the suitcase… I want to believe in Poland so much but it is much more difficult than I’ve ever imagined… For Goodness’ sake let them score a goal with Costa Rica…
Posted from 
Poland
By One Year and two Days ago: Goose Bumps - National Team - The Offside - German Football League Blog | March 31st, 2008 at 2:43 pm [...] Below is a short highlight video and the last few minutes of the match leading up to the goal by Neuville. I could watch that goal all day and will probably do so once I’ve finished this blog post. The World Cup Blog Liveblog for the match is here. [...]
Posted from United States
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