Germany vs. Serbia 2010 World Cup: Game Recap

Football can be a cruel game.  The centre of attention in plenty of games often turns out to be the referee, rather than a standout player.  The German team and U.S. national side would certainly agree.

The Match

Miroslav Klose was sent off in the first half for a second yellow card following a tame challenge on Dejan Stankovic.

Serbia scored immediately afterwards via Milan Jovanovic.

Germany hit the bar and even managed to miss a penalty, and ended up falling aimlessly 1-0 to the Serbs.

The Positives

Despite the fact that Germany lost the game, there are plenty of positives to take out of the match.

The Germans played with 10 men for most of the game and managed to not concede more than once.

They created quite a few opportunities and had Sami Khedira and Lukas Podolski converted their chances—not to mention the penalty miss by Podolski—Germany might have even won this game.

When the two sides had the same number of players Germany managed to move forward well at times against a very tight defence.

Despite the fact that they managed to get balls into the box on very few occasions until the 37th minute, they were arguably the better side.

Had Miroslav Klose been on the pitch for the entire match, Germany would have managed to break the Serbian defence. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira played average matches by their standards, but were not poor by any means.

Manuel Neuer had a good, but rather quiet, game.

The Negatives

Serbia managed to mark Mesut Ozil out of the match. However, that didn't stop Germany from pouring forward.

Mario Gomez was brought on in the second half. Gomez was his usual self and I really wonder why Joachim Loew left Andreas Beck back home and brought this sleeping giant with him to South Africa.

Loew's substitutions where all horrible, barring Cacau. Gomez managed to have zero impact on the game while Marko Marin couldn't do much either. Toni Kroos and Marcell Jansen, in my opinion, were better options.

Holger Badstuber had a terrible match and was turned upside down by Milos Krasic. Now, the left back position is something that Loew will definitely have to put some thought into.

I think its time that flair went out the window and the likes of Toni Kroos came in. It's time for a more pragmatic approach.

Lukas Podolski showed us glimpses of his club form today. His shooting was abysmal and he even managed to miss a vital penalty!

But the biggest talking point is definitely the referee. He managed to send Miro Klose off for two tame challenges, each challenge deserving nothing more than a few words to the Bayern Munich striker.

Nemanja Vidic, on the other hand, managed to escape with a yellow card for a deliberate hand ball. Zdravko Kuzmanovic must have been smiling...

In Conclusion

The result doesn't really leave Germany in a terrible mess due to their superior goal differential. They are still at the top of the group, as Australia plays Ghana tomorrow.

Everything will come down to the final game against Ghana. Without Klose, Germany might have a problem. But Cacau should be able to fill in for one match.

It will be tough, but Germany might be able to beat Ghana. But now, unthinkable as it might have been after the demolition of Australia, there is definitely a possibility that Germany will exit the tournament in the group stages.

And yet, at the same time, there is also a possibility of Germany finishing top of their group due to their final match being against Ghana.

One last point—it's time that FIFA brings in good referees.

The Spanish official at today's game had previously handed out 11 yellow cards in 17 La Liga matches.

The referee gave out nine yellow cards, and two of those resulted in Miroslav Klose getting sent off. Germany still had more possession and more shots on target.

I will end with two quotes from Joachim Loew and Bastian Schweinsteiger which probably sum up the match:

Loew: "We were down to 10 men but still managed to create chances and showed great character. It wasn't a dirty game, but [Miroslav] Klose probably should have been a little more cautious. We won't let our heads go down now. Our fate's still in our own hands, and the team's very determined, so I believe we'll go through."

Bastian: "There’s anger and disappointment in the dressing room, because that's a game we should never have lost. I'm almost speechless about what's happened today."

Statistics: Germany vs Serbia