Germany and Podolski blow it

In the first 36 minutes German Serbia game no time did anything of note and the only entertainment was provided by guessing who a absurdly whistle happy ref would card next. During that time, the ref handed out an absurd 6 yellow cards, two of them to Germany's Miroslav Klose. Shortly after Klose was sent off Germany forgot how to mark and Serbia took a 1- nill lead on a Milan Jovanovic's goal.

For the next 32 minutes, a 10 man German team dominated possession and had the better of the chances. If not for the inability of Lukas Podolski to hit the net and convert a penalty, Germany would have tied the game. For the second game a Serb defender reached out and touched the ball in the crease. One can only guess why Joachim Loew let Podolski, whose name is Polish for can not hit the board side of a barn, take the penatly or why he gutted the creative potential of his midfield by subbing Ozil and Muller off in the 70th minute. Germany did nothing in the last 20 minutes and the Serb's failed to capitalize on two good chances.