Germany get ‘Swedish’ food for thought
18 Oct 2012 8:07 AM IST
Sweden scored four unanswered second-half goals to seal a dramatic 4-4 draw with Germany in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium with the equaliser arriving in the 93rd minute.
Midfielder Rasmus Elm wrote himself into Swedish football folklore with the dramatic right-footed equaliser as Sweden came back from 4-0 down with an hour gone to claim a point at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Joachim Loew’s Germany had been cruising thanks to two early goals from Miroslav Klose before Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker, then Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil gave the hosts a comfortable lead.
But Erik Hamren’s side fought back in impressive style as Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed home before Celtic’s Mikael Lustig, then Galatasary’s Johan Elmander rattled the hosts and then Elm produced his shock equaliser.
Germany remain top of Group C with Sweden second in the table.
The hosts’ opening goal came after just eight minutes as captain Philipp Lahm attacked down the left wing and fed Marco Reus to square for Lazio’s Klose who fired past Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.
It was Klose’s 66th goal on his 126th appearance having been honoured before kick-off with a fair play award for honesty having had a goal he scored for Lazio last month in the Italian league cancelled after admitting he touched the ball.
It was one-way traffic from the hosts as Reus again provided the final scoring pass from the same position when he combined with Thomas Mueller to put Klose in the perfect position to double his tally on 15 minutes.
Sweden had barely launched an attack and Ibrahimovic hardly had a look in as the visitors were allowed only the rare forage into Germany’s half.
The third goal came from an unlikely source as Mertesacker scored only his second on his 84th appearance as he fired home from close range after Mueller headed across goal on 39 minutes.
It finished 3-0 at the break, but the fourth came soon after as Mueller again supplied the cross Ozil, fired home on 55 minutes.
Ibrahimovic showed his class when he turned his first clear chance into a goal after slipping his marker Holger Badstuber to power home Kim Kallstrom’s header on 62 minutes to give the Swedes a lifeline.
After that Sweden was on hot form as they scored three more to hand Germany a shocker. One of the best comebacks this one!
GIROUD HOLDS SPAIN, ITALY, ORANGE WIN
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud grabbed a last minute header to earn France a 1-1 draw with Spain in Madrid in Tuesday night’s Group I World Cup qualifier.
Sergio Ramos gave Spain a first half lead that the world and European champions never looked like defending in an uncustomary nervy second-half performance.
Mario Balotelli capped his return to the international fray with a superb second-half goal as 10-man Italy boosted their 2014 World Cup qualifying bid with a 3-1 win over Denmark on Tuesday.
Netherlands rode high on attack to beat Romania 4-1 away. Van Gaal’s team sit clear atop of Group D to sum up their flattery.
Midfielder Rasmus Elm wrote himself into Swedish football folklore with the dramatic right-footed equaliser as Sweden came back from 4-0 down with an hour gone to claim a point at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Joachim Loew’s Germany had been cruising thanks to two early goals from Miroslav Klose before Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker, then Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil gave the hosts a comfortable lead.
But Erik Hamren’s side fought back in impressive style as Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed home before Celtic’s Mikael Lustig, then Galatasary’s Johan Elmander rattled the hosts and then Elm produced his shock equaliser.
Germany remain top of Group C with Sweden second in the table.
The hosts’ opening goal came after just eight minutes as captain Philipp Lahm attacked down the left wing and fed Marco Reus to square for Lazio’s Klose who fired past Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.
It was Klose’s 66th goal on his 126th appearance having been honoured before kick-off with a fair play award for honesty having had a goal he scored for Lazio last month in the Italian league cancelled after admitting he touched the ball.
It was one-way traffic from the hosts as Reus again provided the final scoring pass from the same position when he combined with Thomas Mueller to put Klose in the perfect position to double his tally on 15 minutes.
Sweden had barely launched an attack and Ibrahimovic hardly had a look in as the visitors were allowed only the rare forage into Germany’s half.
The third goal came from an unlikely source as Mertesacker scored only his second on his 84th appearance as he fired home from close range after Mueller headed across goal on 39 minutes.
It finished 3-0 at the break, but the fourth came soon after as Mueller again supplied the cross Ozil, fired home on 55 minutes.
Ibrahimovic showed his class when he turned his first clear chance into a goal after slipping his marker Holger Badstuber to power home Kim Kallstrom’s header on 62 minutes to give the Swedes a lifeline.
After that Sweden was on hot form as they scored three more to hand Germany a shocker. One of the best comebacks this one!
GIROUD HOLDS SPAIN, ITALY, ORANGE WIN
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud grabbed a last minute header to earn France a 1-1 draw with Spain in Madrid in Tuesday night’s Group I World Cup qualifier.
Sergio Ramos gave Spain a first half lead that the world and European champions never looked like defending in an uncustomary nervy second-half performance.
Mario Balotelli capped his return to the international fray with a superb second-half goal as 10-man Italy boosted their 2014 World Cup qualifying bid with a 3-1 win over Denmark on Tuesday.
Netherlands rode high on attack to beat Romania 4-1 away. Van Gaal’s team sit clear atop of Group D to sum up their flattery.
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