In the battle of old World Cup and historical enemies, Germany put on a
clinic and dismantled England on Sunday to advance to the Round of
Eight.
Germany 4, England 1
Germany jumped out to an early
two-goal lead, and Thomas Muller single-handedly ensured that
England wouldn't catch his team in the second half as the Germans
cruised to a 4-1 victory.
Miroslav Klose opened the
scoring in the 20th minute off a fantastic goal kick from his keeper, Maneul
Neuer. The goalkeeper's ball sailed three-quarters of the field in
the air and landed just in front of a streaking Klose, who fought off
one defender and sent a sliding kick past England goalkeeper David
James. Twelve minutes later, Klose was in on another goal, though
this time, he was setting it up. A give-and-go with Muller gave Germany a
one-on-one at the top of the box. Muller wisely sent a cross to Lukas
Podolski, who was all alone on the left side of the box. Podolski
set and ripped a low shot through the legs of James to give Germany a
2-0 lead.
England responded five minutes later with a goal in the
37th minute. Stephen Gerrard flicked a nice ball into a crowd in
front of the net, and Matthew Upson jumped higher than the rest
to head home the ball past Neuer. Suddenly, Germany's lead was just one
goal heading into halftime.
Muller made sure that this would not
be the first time Germany ever blew a two-goal lead. In the 67th minute,
Bastian Schweinsteiger fed Muller at the top of the box, and
Muller sent a rocket to the net, which deflected off James' hands and
into the net. Muller followed it up with another goal three minutes
later, one-timing a perfect cross from Mesut Ozil just five
minutes in front of the net.
Round of 16 (winners in bold)
Uruguay vs. South Korea
USA vs. Ghana
Germany vs. England
Argentina vs. Mexico
The Netherlands vs. Slovakia
Brazil vs. Chile
Paraguay vs. Japan
Spain vs. Portugal
Standings
Group A
Uruguay
(2-0-1, 7 points, 4 goals, 0 goals against)
Mexico (1-1-1, 4 points, 3
goals, 2 goals against)
South Africa (1-1-1, 4 points, 3 goals, 5
goals against)
France (0-2-1, 1 point, 1 goal, 4 goals against)
Group
B
Argentina (3-0-0, 9 points, 7 goals, 1 goal against)
South
Korea (1-1-1, 4 points, 5 goals, 6 goals against)
Greece (1-2-0, 3
points, 2 goals, 5 goals against)
Nigeria (0-2-1, 1 point, 3 goals, 5
goals against)
Group C
USA (1-0-2, 5 points,
4 goals, 3 goals against)
England (1-0-2, 5 points, 2 goals, 1 goal
against)
Slovenia (1-1-1, 4 points, 3 goals, 3 goals against)
Algeria
(0-2-1, 1 point, 0 goals, 2 goals against)
Group D
Germany
(2-1-0, 6 points, 5 goals, 1 goal against)
Ghana (1-1-1, 4 points, 2
goals, 2 goals against)
Australia (1-1-1, 4 points, 3 goals, 6 goals
against)
Serbia (1-2-0, 3 points, 2 goals, 3 goals against)
Group
E
Netherlands (2-0-0, 6 points, 3 goals, 0 goals against)
Japan
(1-1-0, 3 points, 1 goal, 1 goal against)
Denmark (1-1-0, 3 points, 2
goals, 3 goals against)
Cameroon (0-2-0, 0 points, 1 goal, 3 goals
against)
Group F
Paraguay (1-0-2, 5 points, 3
goals, 1 goal against)
Slovakia (1-1-1, 4 points, 4 goals, 5 goals
against)
New Zealand (0-0-3, 3 points, 2 goals, 2 goals against)
Italy
(0-1-2, 2 points, 4 goals, 5 goals against)
Group G
Brazil
(2-0-1, 7 points, 5 goals, 2 goals against)
Portugal (1-0-2, 5
points, 7 goals, 0 goals against)
Ivory Coast (1-1-1, 4 points, 4
goals,
3 goals against)
North Korea (0-3-0, 0 points, 1 goal, 12 goals
against)
Group H
Spain (2-1-0, 6 points, 4
goals, 2 goals
against)
Chile (2-1-0, 6 points, 3
goals, 2 goals against)
Switzerland (1-1-1, 4 points, 1 goal, 1 goal
against)
Honduras
(0-2-1, 1 point, 0 goals, 3 goals against)
Coming Up:
Argentina and Mexico will battle at 2:30 p.m. (ET) for the right to face
Germany. Then on Monday, The Netherlands will take on Slovakia at 10
a.m. followed by Brazil-Chile at 2:30 p.m.
Here's the complete World Cup schedule.
