Germany 0-1 Serbia
Aided and abetted by a poor refereeing decision here, perversely Serbia were good value for their win. Miroslav Klose's sending off was the catalyst for Serbia's goal (scored by Milan Jovanovic) and some good German pressure which should have lead to an equaliser when Sami Khedira hit the cross bar with a great effort. After half time the Germans started very strongly and again should have equalised when Nemanja Vidic inexplicably handled the ball in the box - no decision for the referee. However, Serbian goalkeeper Stojkovic pulled off a fine save from what in truth was a poor penalty from Podolski.
After that it was a case of our waiting for the German equaliser. Trouble is it didn't happen and indeed Serbia could have made it two when Jovanovic hit the post on 60-odd minutes. This was the first defeat for Germany in a World Cup Group Stage since they were beaten 2-1 by Denmark in Mexico in 1986. With Ghana and Australia still to play, the stakes have been raised in this group and the possibility of Germany finishing in second place in the group also makes things interesting for Group C.
Just a note on the commentary from Jonathan Pearce and Mick McCarthy on the BBC. Jonathan needs to remember that he is commentating to a British audience and therefore doesn't need to lay on the attempted German pronunciation as he does. For Cliff sake, as far as I could tell he was probably getting it wrong anyway. Just say Muller, man, there's no need to tray and say Mueweller or whatever it was you were trying to say. And Mick, stop spouting about teams needing to be up for it regardless of the opposition when you've got the nerve to pick a weakened team for a trip to Old Trafford because you think you're gonna get beaten anyway. Bah!
