Germany have beaten Sweden 2-0 in their first knockout match in the World Cup Finals in Münich, with two first-half goals from Lukas Podolski. Germany commanded the match even before Teddy Lucic was sent-off for Sweden.

Lukas Podolski scored the opener just 4 minutes into play after Miroslav Klose broke free on goal, but his shot was well charged down by Andreas Isaaksson in the Swedish goal, only for Podolski to leap on the loose ball and smash it past Isaksson.

Germany were well in command and doubled their lead in the 12th minute, with another goal from Podolski.

It came from a great bit of build-up play from the hosts, with Klose again making a break at goal and playing a square ball for Podolski to smash home.

Sweden just couldn’t find their feet, with Germany in complete command of the game and having shot after shot at the Swedish goal, with Isaaksson making some good blocks from both Klose and the Germany captain Michael Ballack.

The 6’5” Swedish keeper then denied Germany a third goal at the half-hour-mark, denying Klose with a great save.

A handball by Germany’s Christoph Metzelder in the penalty area after one of the very few Sweden breaks two minutes later, but was missed by the referee completely.

Sweden’s woes were compounded when Teddy Lucic was sent-off for a second-yellow card in the 35th minute, but this seemed to spur them on to their best action of the game so far.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested the German keeper Jens Lehmann for the first-time after turning and shooting well, but the Arsenal keeper was at the near-post to block him well.

Germany went into half-time with a two-goal and one-man advantage, with the hosts also in complete control of the match, with Sweden’s defence floundering with the pressure.

Both teams had early chances in the second-half, with Sweden having sorted out their defensive frailties and putting on some sustained pressure for the first time in the match.

Sweden were awarded a penalty after Germany’s Metzelder barged Henrik Larsson in the box in the 52nd minute, and Larsson stepped-up to take the penalty for a chance to make himself Sweden’s highest-ever World Cup goalscorer, but the former Barcelona and Celtic star skied the spot-kick and missed a golden opportunity to pull a goal back.

Neither side were creating many chances in the second-half, with the tempo of the game having dropped and the dominance of the World Cup hosts having been lessened.

The German captain, and Chelsea new-boy Michael Ballack was excellent throughoput the match and had a host of chances that were saved well by the excellent Swedish keeper Isaaksson, compared to his German counterpart Jens Lehmann, who was hardly troubled during the match.

The game finished 2-0 to Germany, with their dominance of the first-half having won them the game early on and the penalty miss from Sweden underlining the loss of heart after the early barrage.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | google | yahoo | technorati