Germany claim friendly triumph

Germany 2-0 Georgia
Germany warmed up for their tricky UEFA EURO 2008™ trip to Slovakia with a friendly win against Georgia in front of a sell-out 28,000 crowd in Rostock as both teams finished with ten men. The key player was Bastian Schweinsteiger, who opened the scoring and set up Michael Ballack for the second.

Schweinsteiger strikes
Georgia, coached by German Klaus Toppmöller, put the home side under early pressure and on 13 minutes Levan Tskitishvili struck the crossbar. However, Germany began to adapt to the slippery surface and in the 24th minute, FC Bayern München midfielder Schweinsteiger gave them the lead as he picked up a pass from Ballack and shot in powerfully from distance.

Debutant duo
It was a relief for Germany coach Joachim Löw, who was resting several established players and handed debuts to defender Clemens Fritz and midfielder Piotr Trochowski. His team nearly went 2-0 up early in the second half but, from David Odonkor's cross from the right, Mike Hanke's header was saved. However, Hanke's striking partner Lukas Podolski was then dismissed for aiming a kick at an opponent.

Ballack clincher
Still Germany's momentum remained and Ballack's ferocious drive forced an excellent stop from Georgi Lomaia. Zurab Khizanishvili was then sent off for a second booking and with 23 minutes left Ballack turned the ball in after Schweinsteiger's pass from the left. Germany now travel to Slovakia as they attempt to keep up their perfect start to Group D against opponents fresh from a 5-1 win in Wales. Georgia welcome world champions Italy to Tbilisi in Group B.