Day 30 - BRONZE METTLE
Germany outduels a memorable Uruguay team to finish in 3rd place at the 2010 World Cup.

July 10, 2010
by Dan Krier


Germany 3 - Uruguay 2

For the second straight World Cup tournament, Germany took home the 3rd place trophy, this time winning Saturday’s consolation game against Uruguay in comeback fashion by the score of 3-2.

Playing in constant rainfall in the southern city of Port Elizabeth, the contest featured wide-open football for the full 90 minutes with neither team having much to lose.

Absent from the match with flu-like symptoms was German forward Miroslav Klose, who fans were hoping to see break the record for all-time goals scored, something he would have done had he played and scored two. So without their 32 year-old star, the Germans featured a relatively-new lineup, one that performed exactly the same as the old formation did…successfully.

Thankfully, the match was anything but boring, with goals coming early and often. First it was Germany striking with a 19th minute rope of a shot from 35 yards away by Bastian Schweinsteiger, the ball thumping off the chest of Uruguay goalie Fernando Muslera for a wide-open rebound score by Thomas Mueller and a 1-0 Germany lead.

For the 20 year-old Mueller, it was his fifth goal of the 2010 World Cup, something that will surely bring him the honor of Best Young Player of the tournament.

Back came Uruguay in the 28th minute, when Edinson Cavani took a pass from Luis Suarez up the left side on a break-away and sent in a toe-poke grounder for his first goal of the 2010 World Cup and a 1-1 tie, where things stayed until halftime.

Not too far into the second half, the never-say-die Uruguayans found more wizardry from the foot of Diego Forlan, who cooked up a legendary sideways volley that bounced hard into the turf before skidding past helpless German goalie Hans-Jorg Butt for a 2-1 Uruguay lead and Forlan’s fifth goal of the World Cup.

But sadly for the lone South American team left standing, Germany’s best trait is scoring goals, and just five minutes later in the 56th minute, a long cross from right to left from Jerome Boateng swung through traffic and was headed in by Marcell Jansen for the 2-2 tie. It was a highly unlikely combination during open play being that both men are defenders.

From that point on, the Germans seemed to be in command, finally putting away their adversaries in the 83rd minute on a corner kick that bounced through the box before being headed into the top-right corner of the net by 23 year-old midfielder Sami Khedira for his first-ever goal for his country and the 3-2 lead.

As the match reached its final seconds, Diego Forlan had an opportunity to tie things up with a 20-yard free kick, but his shot on goal deflected off the top left of the crossbar, ending the game and a wondrous run for Uruguay, a team that far exceeded expectations in every way possible. Congrats to them, and also to the Germans, who proved once again that they are one of the best football-playing countries in the world year after year after year.

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