| Live Match Commentary |
Up-to-the-Second Score: Germany 1, South Korea 0 - FINAL
FULLTIME MATCH REPORT
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90 +4' - Germany wins 1-0 on Ballack's second half strike. The three-time world champion advances to the final in Yokohama. South Korea stays at home for the third place playoff. Wednesday's semifinal between Brazil and Turkey will decide their opponents. |
90 +3' - Lee Min-sung pulls back Bierhoff, earning a booking. |
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90' - Seol's twisting run on left opens up a shooting chance inside box for Park. But he blasts his effort well off-target under pressure from the advancing Linke. |
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89' - Lee Young-pyo tries a shot from outside box, but it flies well wide off the outside of his foot. |
87' - Asamoah replaces Neuville. |
84' - Neuville races through one-on-one on Lee Woon-jae. He toes the ball past the keeper and goes down but referee Meier judges it a dive and books Neuville. But the Bayer Leverkusen man won't miss the next game as his booking earlier in the tournament was switched by FIFA to Jeremies. |
84' - Jeremies replaces Schneider. |
80' - Seol is on for sweeper Hong as Korea throws players forward. |
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78' - Lee Woon-jae makes a flying save after Bode drives a freekick through the Korean wall. |
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75' - Kahn concedes a corner under pressure from Ahn, punching away the cross. |
74' - GOAL TO GERMANY! Ballack blasts in the rebound after his initial shot, from Neuville's cross from the right, had bounced back off Lee Woon-jae. |
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72' - Corner cleared by Germany, Song follows up with a 30-yard shot from right that Kahn comfortably gathers. |
70' - Lee Chun-soo breaks forward but fails to spot a two-man overlap on the right. Running at the German defense he is cut down from behind by Ballack. A yellow card rules the German midfielder out of either the World Cup final or third place playoff. Lee Chun-soo's ball in deflected for a corner. |
69' - Bierhoff replaces Klose in Germany's attack. |
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67' - Kahn punches away after Lee Chun-soo wins a corner on the left. |
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65' - Ahn, causing problems on the right, gets a cross to the near post but Kahn, untroubled since his first half stop, is alert to the danger and cuts it out. |
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64' - Klose miskicks well wide on the volley from the penalty spot after a surge forward and clipped pass into the area from Ramelow. |
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62' - Ballack does well to win ball to right of goal, knocking a cross back across for Klose. But his looping header is easy for Lee Woon-jae. |
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60' - Frings knocks down Lee Chun-soo just to right of German box. Germany clears the cross, and the subsequent corner, without South Korea posing any threat. |
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56' - Ramelow's high ball into the box forces Song to head behind to deny Bode a chance on goal. It's cleared and Neuville fires in a shot but that's off-target for a goalkick. |
55' - Lee Min-sung replaces Choi in defense. |
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55' - Neuville swings in another high corner but Linke heads over. |
53' - Ahn, the golden goalscorer against Italy in the second round, replaces Hwang. |
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52' - Cha breaks clear from midfield with the German defense opening up in front of him but Frings gets back to put him off and he overhits a pass through to Kahn. |
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48' - Song gets a vital flick with his head to Schneider's cross to take the ball away from Bode for a corner. Bode wins that when it's crossed in but he can't keep his header down. |
45' - Germany kicks off second half, hoping to advance to the World Cup final for the seventh time and the first time since 1990. |
| Second Half |
45 + 3' - Swiss referee Meier brings first half to a close. South Korea and Germany tied, 0-0. |
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45' - Bode's cross cleared for a corner by Song. That drops in the box but Kim clears in the ensuing scramble. |
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43' - Schneider plays another high freekick into the Korean box as Germany. Bode tries an overhead kick but fails to make contact. |
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42' - Schneider's freekick towards Metzelder in the box is cleared under pressure by Cha. |
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39' - Klose does well to win ball and work a shooting chance on edge of box, but it's blocked by Choi. |
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37' - A short corner to Schneider on corner of box is crossed for Bode at back post but his header back across goal is cleared by Choi for another corner. That falls dangerously in the goalmouth but it's cleared by Kim. |
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37' - Schneider threads a pass to Neuville, who wins a corner. |
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34' - Frings heads clear, but Korea keeps pressing down left side. |
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34' - Hwang wins a corner with a deflected shot. Ramelow heads clear at front post but Korea wins another corner. |
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30' - Germany wins first corner of the game. Cleared at near post by Cha and Frings' long range shot flashes wide. |
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27' - Ballack wins a header as Germany continues to pump crosses into the box. Neuville hits the loose ball on the volley but he's been forced wide by Kim and hits the side netting. |
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26' - Bode's cross towards Klose after good work by Ballack in midfield headed clear by Kim. |
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23' - Neuville clips a dangerous ball into the box towards Klose. He falls tamely in close contact with Kim and the Germans appeal for a penalty without success, or much justification. |
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19' - Lee receives treatment after a collision with Klose. |
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16' - Germany breaks forward quickly and Neuville hits an instant volley from just outside box, but straight at Lee Woon-jae. |
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16' - Cha breaks forward, sending in a cross that reaches Park via a deflection on the edge of the box. He turns inside his marker to shoot but it's straight at Kahn. |
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13' - Ramelow sends in a deep cross for Golden Boot contender Klose but he sends his header wide, thanks to the close attention of Choi. |
8' - Kahn makes a brilliant one-handed stop diving low to his right to stop Lee Chun-soo's drive after some smart passing between Lee and Cha on the Korean right. |
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6' - Schneider crosses from deep on the right with Lee Woon-jae coming forward to claim a comfortable catch. |
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5' - As expected, Korea has started the match at a frantic pace, with Germany sitting deeper and content to retain possession for now. |
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1' - Ramelow gets forward into the Korean box, dragging a hopeful shot straight at GK Lee Woon-jae. |
1' - South Korea kicks off in front of a fervent and expectant crowd in Seoul, aiming to become the first ever Asian side to reach the World Cup final. |
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Kickoff at 7:30 a.m. EDT; 11:30 a.m. GMT. Winner goes to the final in Yokohama on June 30; loser plays for third place in Daegu on June 29. South Korea is in red, Germany in white. Dietmar Hamann is fit for Germany. Ahn Jung-hwan and Seol Ki-hyeon are out for South Korea. (All references to "right" and "left" are from the perspective of the attacking team, unless otherwise noted.)
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