Liveblog: Germany vs. Sweden

June 24th, 2006 | by: Chris Heidrich | Comments(129)

Germany are through to the quarter finals and will face either Argentina or Mexico. Sweden will rue the sending-off but in truth they were behind the eight ball (and two goals down) before they were reduced to 10 men. Thanks for joining me in the liveblog and for all your comments. Come back for the next game in a couple hours time.

Final: Germany 2-0 Sweden

Full-time: The German mannshaft rolls on to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. A vibrant first 20 minutes saw them score twice against Sweden who had no answers. The game changed with Lucic being sent off but the Swedish defense held solid for the rest of the game. They offered nothing in attack almost the entire game, which will disappoint their fans, but they were given a raw deal with the red card, in my opinion.

91:40 – Another minute of this game and it can’t end soon enough for Sweden. They’ve held Germany scoreless with 10 men, but have been unable to create anything of their own.

90:26 – Klose runs full length of the pitch to chase down a ball that Isaksson has to come out of his area to clear.

89:31 – Rare moments for Sweden in ze German half of the pitch. Comes to not much, but Ljungberg is fouled.

88:02 – Shooting practice for ze Germans. This time it’s Kehl shooting high over the bar after Sweden allows 2-3 passes along the edge of their area.

86:47 – Two shots in quick succession for Germany. Neuville with the first which is straight at Isaksson. Klose gets another off but it’s fired high over the bar. Germany wants three and there’s not much Sweden can do about it.

85:56 – Substitution for Germany. World Cup Willie Kehl comes on for Frings. Guess we won’t be seeing Ollie Kahn as a super-striker after all.

83:52 – Wonderful interplay between Schneider, Neuville and Klose sees Schneider whip off a shot that strikes the post. It was defelected and Germany have a corner. Maybe ze Germans are not done yet.

83:13 – Unless Sweden can score soon, this game is destined to degrade into keep-ball from ze Germans.

81:58 – Play is stopped for an injury to Edman. Replay shows Klose’s full weight on the Swede’s lower shin. That’s gotta sting.

80:15 – Ballack is destined not to score today. His rifled shot from 18 yards is straight at Isaksson who saves. The rebound falls to Klose’s head but it goes way over the bar. Ballack has the frustrated look on his face that we’ve seen all game from the Big Man.

78:29 – Germany has plenty of time on the ball. Ballack plays nice one-twos with Frings on the wings. Borowski is released down the touchline and gets a cross in for Klose. Looked like he should have hit that first time. Instead the danger is cleared by Sweden.

77:12 – Allback is booked for clattering Friedrich. Ze German made the most of it rolling around over and over. He’s fine and play continues.

75;45 – Borowski is a big dude. You can see those stretcher-bearers are struggling. He’s back on the pitch now.

74:28 – Ballack lays a nice pass for Lahm down the wing. His pass finds Borowski in the box but a crunching tackle clears the danger. Borowski is hurt but I think he’ll be ok.

73:14 – 2 goal hero Podolski comes off and Oliver Neuville takes his place. Great cheers from the crowd for the young man.

71:40 – Schweinsteiger makes way for Borowski. Schweinsteiger just was not a factor in this game but ze Germans have not needed him with Klose and Ballack taking up the slack. Sweden also make a substitution. Ibrahimovic off for Allback. Shame for Zlatan. He was alone up there after the sending-off.

70:44 – Sweden doing a good job of keeping possession but eventually Germany win it back through Schweinsteiger. Ballack takes another trademark shot but this one is just over the bar. No save required.

68:39 – Frings cops a ball to the face and collapses. The stretcher appears. He runs to the sideline though and he appears fine. Shot of Borowski warming up on the bench for Germany. In the meantime Ljungberg squeezes off a weak shot that goes well wide.

67:20 – Sweden trying to slow the game down in order to keep posession. Linderoth plays a corss-field ball in to Zlatan who does well to chest it down but he cannot control it and Germany clears.

65:41 – Friedrich has a shot from long distance after a nice dummy from Frings gave him the space. Friedrich has not had a shot on target or a decent cross this World Cup.

63:30 – Beckanbauer sighting. Not so surprising he’s at this game, but geez he just got married yesterday. You’d think he might be enjoying this one from his honeymoon suite somewhere.

62:18 – Germans not showing much sportsmanship as Podolski takes a long distance shot while Linderoth lies on the ground. Plenty of time to have kicked the ball away.

60:40 – Sweden’s forward play always leaves them vulnerable at the back. Germany pressed forward on the break and saw a cross from Klose pass harmlessly across the goal face after Podolski could not connect from close range.

60:00 – Sweden enjoying some more possession now. Getting some love from the referee with some calls. Ljungberg seems to be able to beat his man at will.

58:04 – More patience of possession from Germany. Ole’s from the crowd. Another long distance shot from Ballack. He’s on fire today. This one over the bar.

55:51 – Podolski blasts over the bar from 18 yards.

54:40 – Rasping shot by Ballack that keeper Isaksson fingertips onto a post. Great shot, amazing save. Isaksson in amazing form.

53:51 – Germany play their way out of defence with some nice one touch passing from the corner flag to the halfway. It breaks down as Klose can’t find Podolski.

52:20 – Larsson misses!! He blasts over the bar. Heartbreak for all of Sweden. Incredible miss.

51:24 – Penalty for Sweden. Larsson is hacked in the box byMetzelder. Larsson did his best to make sure the ref saw it. Before the pen is taken, Sweden bring on Wilhelmsson for Jonson.

50:10 – Shot of rat-tail Wilhelmsson on the bench preparing to come on for Sweden. Surprised he did not start. Sweden are a much more aggressive side when he’s making his runs down the wing. And he gets kicked a lot so he might draw some yellows from the ref.

49:01 – Patient build-up from ze Germans as you’d expect with an extra man. No real penetration and Sweden clear for a throw-in near the right corner.

47:30 – Yellow card for Jonson for a very late tackle on Ballack. THAT card was deserved. He clattered Ballack from behind when the ball was long gone.

45:50 – Sweden keeping possession and breaking forward through Ljungberg. He lays a ball into the path of Jonson inside the 18 yard box. Lehmann comes and claims it and takes a knock to the face for his trouble. He’s probably faking. Nice chance for Sweden.

45:01 – Second half on the way. 10 man Sweden against 11.5 man Germany. The shadow monster has all but left the building.

Half-time Highlights: The German goals were classy and the hosts were rampant in the early going. And then the send-off. It was so obvious that te German players influenced the referee. He had blown for the foul and had made no move whatsoever towards the Swedish player, Lucic. Then the ref was yelled at by two German players – Podoloski and Frings, I think- and all of a sudden the ref is off to the races with his hand in his pocket. I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories, but I’m at a loss how a world class referee would suddenly change his mind after getting yelled at by players. Very disappointing, but I’ll look forward to our resident referee’s opinion on the matter.

Half-time: As I said, Klose has been the player of the game so far. But the most influential man on the field has been the referee. He’s effectively killed Sweden’s chances in this game by sending off defender Lucic. While I can’t argue with the first card, the second was so innocuous. It’s not like he charged in dangerously and was likely to injure Klose, which is part of the referees’ brief (i’ve learned by reading the ref’s blog. He held Klose back, but he wasn’t the last defender and there was not a goal scoring opportunity. A stern talking to would have sufficed in my opinion. Sweden were not showing much in attack at that point, but at least with 11 men they had an even chance to claw their way back.

46:35 – Free kick to Sweden. A chance for the to set something up. German wall rushes the ball before the kick is taken but the ref does nothing. The chance is over and half time is blown.

43:13 – Klose showing again his class. After some nice interplay between Podolski and Schweinsteiger, neither player can get a shot off. The ball breaks to Klose and within a second he’s turned and ripped off a shot that Isaksson has to deal with. Klose is player of the game so far by a wide margin.

41:56 – Still shaking my head over that yellow. For the ref to be consistent in booking that type of foul, he’ll be giving cards out all night. Larsson crosses from the lef tinto the box. A collision in the box between Lahm, Lehmann and Swede Jonson. Ball falls to Lahm’s feet and he calmly clears with a pass rather than booting it into the stands.

39:38 – Zlatan draws a bungle save from Lehmann. A sweet turn and shot from an acute angle and Lehmann can barely turn it wide. If Germany sit back here, that will make things easier for Sweden to create chances with 10 men.

38:01 – Sweden prepare to make a substitution. Kallstrom is the unlucky player. Hansson comes on. A defensive move by Sweden to stem the flow of white towards their goal.

35:50 – While I was enjoying Germany’s play, I want Sweden to make a comeback. no one likes to see a team unfairly done by and that second yellow was unneccessary and it has ruined this game as a contest. Germany can sit back and take care of business knowing they have the extra man for the majority of the game.

34:30 – This game is basically over as a contest. Lucic is given his second yellow card for a nothing foul. He held back Klose but no need for a yellow card. Ref has done Sweden no favours there. Red card for Lucic. Bad luck for Sweden. Shame for the game.

32:45 – Huge shot from Schweinsteiger from 400 yards away. It dipped and curled and Isaksson made a fantastic save. No one noticed though and Sweden were awarded a goal kick. It may well have been the save of the tournament.

31:52 – Great tackle by Metzelder on Zlatan in the German box. At the other end Frings strikes from distance and Isaksson saves again. End to end stuff here. Cracking game.

30:44 – Lahm with a lovely run around Larsson to reach the byline. His cut back to Klose results in a scuffle but Klose gets his shot away and draws a fantastic save from Isaksson.

29:06 – Podolski collapses under a challenge. Swedish player stood right on his heel. That will sting for a bit.

27:20 – Not enough possession for Sweden for me to use any of their players names. However, Lucic goes into the ref’s book for a tackle on Klose.

25:43 – Solid possession for Germany ends in a wayward shot from Ballack. Frings did get that yellow card for that handball. Only 5th yellow for Germany as a team this tournament.

24:49 – Handball from Frings but the ref calls play on. I wonder if he’ll get a card when play stops next.

22:16 – German defense has looked very solid. Not much room for Zlatan in the 18 yard box. At the other end, Schneider is a goal hog and blasts wide from 22 yards. A better touch from Ballack at the edge of the area would have released Klose on goal.

20:16 – I spent most of the 2002 World Cup calling Miroslav ‘Not-so-Klose’. He’s improved out of sight in 4 years. His touches have been fantastic and playing in team-mates as well as finishing his own chances.

18:50 – Schweinsteiger has been pretty quiet, and we’ve not seen much of Germany’s best player, Lahm, but maybe the sunshine out there on that side of the pitch is keeping them hidden. A few half chances fall to Podolski but no further chances for the young man.

17:06 – Another German attack. Ballack from distance and this time draws a good save from keeper Isaksson.

16:15 – Frierich gets clattered.

14:26 – If Germany score 6 today, will they bring on Oliver Kahn as a striker?

13:16 – Sweden barely had a touch on the ball so far. Still 70+ minutes for them to come back in this game. 2-0 is a tough lead to defend.

11:44 – GGGGGOOOOAAALLLLL!!!!! Podolski again! Klose again with the set-up. Klose is handing the Golden Shoe to his team-mate. Guess the tabloids saying these guys hate each other must be wrong.

10:51 – Chance for Zlatan at the other end. Big man can get his leg up. Too bad he got his leg up into the head of the German defender.

10:06 – Shot from Ballack from long range. Just wide. Germans running rampant in the early stages.

08:50 – Haven’t really had a chance to use Bastian Schweinsteiger’s name yet, so I’m just gonna say it to get it in my copy and paste row. Ljungberg bitching at the ref again.

07:21 – Chance for Larsson at the other end. Ball breaks in to the German area. Great desparation tackle from Ballack, even though he did not get a touch on the ball. Larsson shot just wide from 8 yards and a tight angle.

06:00 – Guess I’m a liar. Wasn’t a slow start at all. Germany on a roll now. Podolski has a rasping shot from 30 yards – just over the top. Clear shooting chance with no Swedish defenders near him. The crowd chants his name.

3:45 – GGGGGGOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!! Podolski scores from 16 yards after Klose is brought down by the keeper. Great touch and drive into the box by Klose. Keeper brings him down and Podoloski is on hand to pick up the pieces.

03:25 – Slow start to the game. Both teams feeling each other out. Not wanting to make an early mistake.

02:18 – Foul by Kallstrom on Sneider. Set piece for Germany. Frings over the ball. Straight at the keeper who cleans up.

00:30 – Referee looks like the cousin of Eddie Munster. Nice brylcreem action. First free kick of the game, dealt with by the tall timber of Germany.

00:01 – We’re off! Let the second round begin. We’re getting towards the sharp end of the tournament now and there’s no second chances. Germany in white, Sweden in yellow and blue. Coach Lagerback still wearing that ridiculous shirt.

National Anthems: Very stirring German national anthem. Whole stadium in full voice. Chills up the spine.

Zlatan in the line up but not singing today. Lucic and Larsson also silent today. Escort kids with mohawks – nice.

5 minutes to go: Some great shots of the crowd pulling up huge banners of past players lifting the World Cup. Matteus, Beckanbauer, etc. Pretty cool. PLayers in the tunnel, ready to come out. Big shadow on the pitch, nothing new there.

10 minutes to go: “Sweden are our first really tough opponent,” said German captain Michael Ballack. I guess based on results he’s correct, but even though Poland gave a pretty poor showing inthe World Cup in general, they showed they could frustrate Germany for long periods. If Sweden are that much better, then we could be in for a low scoring game. Let’s hope not!

15 minutes to go: Think Ibrahimovic is fit. Good news for Sweden. Not so good news are the quotes from Lars Lagerback who says he can’t see any weak links in the German team, and if his team does as well against Germany as they did against England he will be satisfied. Last I checked, they drew against England and that just ain’t gonna be enough.

15 minutes to go: No word yet if big Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been cleared to start, coming off an injury sustained against Paraguay. Even though his replacement for the England game, Marcus Allback, got on the scoresheet that night, Sweden will really miss Zlatan in attack. He’s the type of attacker who demands attention from more than one defender which leaves potential holes for nippy strikers like Larsson and Ljungberg to burst into.

20 minutes to go: The crowds at FanFests all over Germany will be zoos right now as the nation girds itself for the big game. Tons of Swedes about as well. Who will be happiest afterwards.

Pregame: Who is going to win?
This has the makings of an epic game. Germany has played some attacking football and yet shown some holes in defense. After giving up two goals to Costa Rica in their opening game though, they shut out Poland and were barely troubled by Ecuador. Sweden on the other hand, has had some problems finding the back of the net. Not for lack of trying though and if practice makes perfect, Sweden could bag a couple of goals here.

With the weight of a nation behind them, Germany is looking good here today and my prediction is a 3-2 victory for the home team. What are your predictions?