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Lion tamers Ten-man Germany beats Cameroon 2-0 to advancePosted: Tuesday June 11, 2002 7:16 AMUpdated: Tuesday June 11, 2002 11:39 AM
SHIZUOKA, Japan (Reuters) -- Two second-half goals gave 10-man Germany a 2-0 victory over Cameroon on Tuesday for a berth in the World Cup's last 16 in an ill-tempered match featuring two red cards and 12 other yellow cards. Key defender Carsten Ramelow had been sent off for a second bookable offence when substitute striker Marco Bode collected a fine pass from striker Miroslav Klose to beat Cameroon goalkeeper Boukar Alioum from close range five minutes after the break. A header from a Michael Ballack cross by Klose, the tournament's leading scorer with five goals, sealed Germany's victory 11 minutes from time to ensure they topped group E. Ireland's 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia left them second. (Analysis) Germany will meet the runners-up of group B in the next round, probably either South Africa or Paraguay.
Coach Rudi Voeller said: "There was great pressure on us and it was only when we were one man down that we played good football. "Cameroon dominated the first half...after we were leading 1-0 things got better and better for us and we began dominating the match." Bode added: "We couldn't really find the rhythm in the first half. Later the pressure was off. We really didn't have anything to lose. "We had to play more defensively in the second half. The conditions were very different then because we only had 10 men. We knew they had weaknesses but we didn't take advantage of them in the first half." Cameroon's German coach Winfried Schaefer said: "The decisive moment of the match was when Ramelow got a red card. I'd have preferred it if he'd stayed on the field and (Samuel) Eto'o had scored. "We played too much through the middle in the second half against the 10 men and we lost possession and that's how they scored the first goal." Closed in Triple world champions Germany, who needed at least a draw from the group E decider to make sure of reaching the second round, lost Ramelow after he tripped Samuel Eto'o on the edge of the area in the 40th minute as the Cameroon striker closed in on the box. The Indomitable Lions, who were second to Germany in the group and realistically had to win to progress, were also reduced to 10 men with 13 minutes remaining when substitute Patrick Suffo received a second booking. Germany, who had named the round of 16 as their minimal target after a shaky run in qualifying and a string of injury blows, survived a few scares, notably before the interval.
They had wasted a great chance after 13 minutes when midfielder Salomon Olembe exploited a defensive blunder from Thomas Linke to go one on one with goalkeeper Oliver Kahn but lost his duel with the Germany captain. German coach Winfried Schaefer's men threatened again in the 26th minute when a header from defender and captain Rigobert Song flew just wide. Germany had opened the competition in style with a record-breaking 8-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia, before being held to a 1-1 draw with Ireland. Hit post Cameroon, who missed scoring an equalizer when midfielder Lauren hit the post, could not revive the spirit of 1990, when they advanced to the quarter-finals before narrowly losing to England. The African and Olympic champions go out after the first round of the finals for the third consecutive time after 1994 and 1998. The Germans have reached the second round at every World Cup since 1938. This was their 13th successive qualification beyond the first round which is a World Cup record. Schaefer says Germany win hinged on red cardCameroon coach Winfried Schaefer said the 2-0 defeat by Germany on Tuesday had hinged on the sending-off of German defender Carsten Ramelow in the first half. "It was a great World Cup. They didn't deserve to go out this way but it was just not be. I told them [the players] to keep their chin up. "You only drown if you stay in the water. So they have to drag themselves out and start over again. "I feel really sorry for the boys who worked very hard for this and didn't deserve to go out this way. "I wouldn't change anything for this game but I would for the first game [against Ireland]. I wish we had arrived in Asia on time, maybe then we would have won that first game. I didn't want the last game to be decisive but that's how it goes. "I want to congratulate the Germans but also Ireland who played fantastic football and deserved to go through." Cameroon arrived five days late for the tournament after bickering over bonuses and flight problems.
Summary:Cameroon 0 Germany 2 - result World Cup, group E Scorers: Marco Bode 50, Miroslav Klose 79 Red cards: Cameroon - Patrick Suffo 77 Germany - Carsten Ramelow 40 Yellow cards: Cameroon - Marc-Vivien Foe 8, Rigobert Song 42, Bill Tchato 44, Geremi 56, Salomon Olembe 58, Patrick Suffo 60, Lauren 81 Germany - Carsten Jancker 9, Dietmar Hamann 29, Michael Ballack 31, Carsten Ramelow 37, Oliver Kahn 42, Christian Ziege 72, Torsten Frings 74 Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 47,085 Cameroon (5-3-2): 1-Boukar Alioum; 2-Bill Tchato (18-Patrick Suffo 53), 3-Pierre Wome, 4-Rigobert Song, 5-Raymond Kalla, 8-Geremi; 12-Lauren, 17-Marc-Vivien Foe, 20-Salomon Olembe (23-Daniel Ngom Kome 64); 9-Samuel Eto'o, 10-Patrick Mboma (21-Joseph Desire-Job 82) Germany (3-5-2): 1-Oliver Kahn; 2-Thomas Linke, 5-Carsten Ramelow, 21-Christoph Metzelder; 22-Torsten Frings, 8-Dietmar Hamann, 19-Bernd Schneider (16-Jens Jeremies 80), 13-Michael Ballack, 6-Christian Ziege; 11-Miroslav Klose (7-Oliver Neuville 84), 9-Carsten Jancker (17-Marco Bode 46) Match referee: Antonio Lopez Nieto (Spain) Linesmen : Mohamed Saeed (Maldives), Jorge Oliveira (Brazil)
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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