 Germany won through to the World
Cup final but goal scorer Michael
Ballack will miss the Yokohama showpiece.
The European side are now in a record
seventh World Cup final and Brazil
can match that mark if they defeat
Turkey tomorrow in the second semi
final to contest the trophy in five
days.
The winner came in the 75th minute
as the co-host's luck ran out.
After a reflex save to deny Michael
Ballack’s right foot drive as
he ran in to meet an Oliver Neuville
cross from the right when the striker
had managed to get in his cross under
pressure from two players, goalkeeper
Lee Woon-jae saw his save land at
the feet of Ballack again and the
new Bayern Munich signing finished
off by striking the ball on target
with his left foot.
Four minutes before Ballack had earned
his second booking of the knockout
phase by cynically ending a Korean
attack as Lee Chun-soo ran from his
own half to advance towards the German
penalty area for Ballack to bring
him down from behind. Swiss referee
Urs Meier was right to punish Ballack
who responded professionally by sticking
to his task on the night of trying
to avoid the close attention of Yoo
Sang-chul who had marked him out of
most of the semi final.
Marco Bode tested Lee with a long
range drive from a free kick in the
79th minute with top scorer Miroslav
Klose replaced before the goal by
veteran Oliver Bierhoff.
Neuville was booked in the 86th minute
for diving and the accreditation of
an earlier booking in the second round
to midfielder Jens Jeremies rather
than the Swiss-born forward means
he will be available for the final.
Park Ji-sung screwed an injury time
chance high and wide from the edge
of the penalty area but Germany never
looked like conceding a goal in this
game and have only conceded one goal
all tournament.
A game of few chances saw Korea lock
up the German midfield and restrict
their chances in the air from corners
and free kicks.
The home side had started well with
Lee Chun-soo forcing Oliver Kahn to
dive and save an angled shot in the
8th minute and Neuville hit a volley
straight at lee in the 17th minute
but the game was dominated by competent
defending.
Choi Jin-chul was exceptional in
the heart of the Korean back line
but his loss with an injury in the
56th minute perhaps unbalanced the
defence but they scarcely offered
a chance to the Germans.
A build-up to the game dominated
by claims and counter-claims regarding
the refereeing favours done to Korea
in their last two matches bore no
relation to the medium-paced action
of the Seoul semi final.
The World Cup has reverted to type
after several strange matches –
possible German or Brazilian domination.
One real chance and one goal to win
the game was the only story this semi
final told.
Germany
Oliver Kahn (capt), Thomas
Linke, Christoph Metzelder, Torsten
Frings, Carsten Ramelow, Dietmar Hamann,
Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider (Jens
Jeremies 85), Miroslav Klose (Oliver
Bierhoff 70), Oliver Neuville (Gerald
Asamoah 87), Marco Bode.
Goal: Ballack 75.
South Korea
Lee Woon-Jae, Choi Jin-Cheul
(Lee Min-Sung 56), Yoo Sang-Chul,
Kim Tae-Young, Lee Chun-Soo, Lee Young-Pyo,
Hong Myung-Bo (Seol Ki-Hyeon 81),
Hwang Sun-Hong (Ahn Jung-Hwan 54),
Park Ji-Sung, Song Chong-Gug, Cha
Du-Ri.
Referee: Urs Meier (Swi). |
Soccer Media
