Germany waltz off with a point
Wednesday 14 October 2009
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Lukas Podolski (No10) celebrates his late leveller with Mesut Özil (©Getty Images)
Photos/Wallpapers »
Germany will head into the 4 December FIFA World Cup finals draw on the back of an unbeaten qualifying campaign after Lukas Podolski's last-minute goal secured a point against Finland.
Early winner
The only Group 4 points dropped by Germany before tonight were in a 3-3 draw in Finland and for much of the game it seemed Jonatan Johansson's early goal – on his 100th international appearance – would prove enough to earn the section's third-placed side victory. However, Podolski scrambled in at the death as the teams drew for the fourth time in succession.
Johansson strikes
Having secured Germany's passage to South Africa with a 1-0 victory in Russia on Saturday, Joachim Löw took the chance to experiment, making six changes. His side went behind on eleven minutes, with Johansson turning in a cross from Roni Porokara, and Germany goalkeeper René Adler also had to pull off an impressive save from Roman Eremenko.
Germany denied
Eremenko threatened again at the start of the second half, his shot parried by Adler; Jari Litmanen, making a 129th appearance, converted the rebound but was offside. There was relief for Finland defender Niklas Moisander when Jussi Jääskeläinen made a diving stop after he deflected Piotr Trochowski's shot towards goal. The goalkeeper also tipped away a deflected Philipp Lahm drive and Miroslav Klose's header but could do nothing to deny Podolski.
©uefa.com 1998-2009. All rights reserved.
