Germany, Argentina reach World Cup quarterfinals
25/6/2006 10:49
Hosts Germany and Argentina advanced to the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals
yesterday after beating Sweden 2-0 and edging Mexico 2-1 respectively.
In
Munich, striker Lukas Podolski scored twice in eight minutes to help Germany
ease past Sweden in the first match of the World Cup knockout round.
Podolski
scored his second goal of the tournament four minutes into the game, when fellow
striker Miroslav Klose broke clear in the box, was just stopped by Andreas
Isaksson and Podolski was on hand to convert the rebound.
The 21-year-old put
it 2-0 eight minutes later after a fine combination with Klose, who slipped a
pass through and Podolski found the back of the net with ease.
Sweden
suffered another blow in the 35th minute when defender Teddy Lucic was sent off
for pulling back Klose and received his second yellow card.
Sweden wasted
their best chance in the 52nd minute. Striker Henrik Larsson was awarded a
penalty kick after being fouled in the box by Christoph Metzelder. But the
35-year-old made a complete hash of it and it flied over the
crossbar.
Germany head coach juergen Klinsmann said after the match: "We were
extremely well prepared from the kickoff. I played with full power and full
energy. We wanted to attack and give them pressure from the start and the
players did very well. "
Sweden's coach Lars Lagerback was unhappy with the
red card. "It's tough to play a team as strong as Germany. It got tougher to
play them with ten men."
In Leipzig, Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez
blasted a brilliant volley home in extra time against desperate Mexico on
Saturday night.
Argentina, who edged Mexico 2-1 in extra time after a
full-time 1-1 tie, will meet hosts Germany in the quarterfinals in Berlin on
June 30.
Rodriguez was named Man of the Match by the FIFA Tecnical Study
Group after the match. He said his fabulous goal had left him stunned he was
confident Argentina could now overcome Germany in the
quarter-final.
Argentine coach Jose Pekerman said after the match that both
Argentina and Germany are great teams in world soccer history.
"Both teams
have claimed the World Cup titles, and that is a great game we have awaited for
so long," Pekerman added.
As for today's duel, Perkerman said,"It was a very
difficult and interesting match which ended in extra time. Both teams know each
other well and played their best."
In the second half, Pekerman sent all his
key players to the pitch to avoid a stunned exit. He said that it would not
affect their performance in the more crucial Germany game.
"We have several
days to recover and the match against the hosts will be a really tough one." he
added.
After a 1-1 tie in regular time, the Argentines grasped the hope in
the first half of the extra time fight.
Eight minutes into the extra, Juan
Sorin played a cross from the left wing to Rodriguez on the right edge of the
box.
Rodriguez took it off his chest and stroke an amazing volley into the
upper-left corner.
Mexican goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez made a dive but even
could not touch the ball.
The breath-taking duel was an fantastic show to all
spectators in the stadium and TV viewers around the world.
None of the teams
played conservatively in the match which witnessed flash-paced attacking,
attacking and attacking.
Despite fielding six defenders and only one
midifielder, Mexico stunned the world by playing attacking football from the
very beginning.
Only six minutes into the game, Mexico's only midfielder
Pavel Pardo served the out-swinger and it was flicked on by Antonio Jose Castro
at the near post right to an unmarked Rafael Marquez at the far post.
Marquez
slid in to shoot it into the roof of the net.
But Argentina earned their
equalizer in the 10th minute.
It was a well driven cross by world-class
midfielder Juan Riquelme, and Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo managed to deflect
it into the net before Borgetti could clear.
Both squads showcased their
brilliant ball control skills and accurate passes and crosses in the match which
could have the highest quality in the on-going World Cup.
Xinhua
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