Serbia vs Germany

Congratulations the World Cup has finally kicked off and we were treated to some awesome football today.Germany kicked us off having thumped Australia and appearing in the front of the cue in terms of displaying what football is all about,facing a different opposition today in Serbia who as highlighted in the beginning of the tournament weren’t to be taken lightly with the players they have who are used to Champions League football.Germany striker Miroslav Klose was controversially sent off by Spanish referee Alberto Undiano for two bookable offences after 37 minutes.The referee had set the tempo but cautioning allot of players booking 4 players in 18 minutes and one of the key factors in being a referee is to be consistent with the decisions and the calls.A minute later Serbia broke the deadlock with Milan Jovanovic firing home from Nikola Zigic’s knockdown.Many managers will be looking at the towering striker wondering how they will be dealing with him in the competition as his presence is hard to ignore especially when he throws his weight around.There were many talking points in the game and the Germans did feel hard done by conceding so close to the sending off.If the Germans needed a lifeline they certainly got that from the ever reliable Manchester united Star Vidic who is normally the rock of any side he is in.

Vidic outrageously rose unchallenged to handle the ball with no pressure either side from a floated ball by Lukas Podolski who looked threatening the whole game.Its the second handball in as many games with Kuzmanovic making the exact mistake against Ghana.Up step Podolski and with the success rate the Germans have had over the years in taking penalties a rarity happened when Stojkovic  came to the rescue diving to his left side to save the penalty and save Vidics blushes.Low’s men belatedly responded with midfielder Sami Khedira firing against the underside of the crossbar and Thomas Muller forcing a goal-line clearance from Aleksandar Kolarov with his follow-up in injury time, but Serbia held out.Serbia might have increased their lead, but Jovanovic’s 67th-minute shot came back off the post and Zigic’s header clipped the bar seven minutes later with Neuer beaten.Kloses dismissal did make a different but that shouldn’t take away the gutsy performance by serbia as the result was a fair reflection of the game at the end with Serbia just shading it.The withdrawal of Mesut Ozil did seem to delay their rhythm despite putting another attacker on in Cacao.The Germans are certainly not out of it and can be seen as a wounded Animal as they head into their last game hurt by this result,looking to rejuvenate their pride against Ghana. Serbia 1 Germany 0