Soccer: Germany beats Cameroon in ill-tempered match

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Two second-half goals gave 10-man Germany a 2-0 victory over Cameroon this morning (NZT) for a berth in the last 16 in an ill-tempered match featuring two red cards and 12 other yellow cards -- a World Cup finals record.

Key defender Carsten Ramelow had been sent off for a second bookable offence when substitute striker Marco Bode collected a fine pass from striker Miroslav Klose to beat Cameroon goalkeeper Boukar Alioum from close range five minutes after the break.

A header from a Michael Ballack cross by Klose, the tournament's leading scorer with five goals, sealed Germany's victory 11 minutes from time to ensure they topped group E. Ireland's 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia left them second.

Germany will meet the runners-up of group B in the next round, probably either South Africa or Paraguay. Both coaches agreed the sending-off of Ramelow ironically swung the game for the three-times champions.

German coach Rudi Voeller said: "There was great pressure on us and it was only when we were one man down that we played good football.

"Cameroon dominated the first half...after we were leading 1-0 things got better and better for us and we began dominating the match."

Bode added: "We couldn't really find the rhythm in the first half. Later the pressure was off. We really didn't have anything to lose."

Cameroon's German coach Winfried Schaefer said: "The decisive moment of the match was when Ramelow got a red card. I'd have preferred it if he'd stayed on the field and (Samuel) Eto'o had scored.

"We played too much through the middle in the second half against the 10 men and we lost possession and that's how they scored the first goal."

Before this World Cup, the record for cards in a finals match was 10 featuring Austria v the United States in 1990 and Denmark v South Africa in 1998. There were 12 yellow cards in the group A Senegal v Uruguay match earlier on Tuesday.

"There were too many yellow cards thrown around. This isn't chess. It's the World Cup. And there weren't any really brutal fouls," Voeller said.

Triple world champions Germany, who needed at least a draw from the group E decider to make sure of reaching the second round, lost Ramelow after he tripped Samuel Eto'o on the edge of the area in the 40th minute as the Cameroon striker closed in on the box.

The Indomitable Lions, who were second to Germany in the group and realistically had to win to progress, were also reduced to 10 men with 13 minutes remaining when substitute Patrick Suffo received a second booking.

Germany, who had named the round of 16 as their minimal target after a shaky run in qualifying and a string of injury blows, survived a few scares, notably before the interval.

They had wasted a great chance after 13 minutes when midfielder Salomon Olembe exploited a defensive blunder from Thomas Linke to go one on one with goalkeeper Oliver Kahn but lost his duel with the Germany captain.

Schaefer's men threatened again in the 26th minute when a header from defender and captain Rigobert Song flew just wide.

Germany had opened the competition in style with a record-breaking 8-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia, before being held to a 1-1 draw with Ireland.

Cameroon, who missed scoring an equaliser when midfielder Lauren hit the post, could not revive the spirit of 1990, when they advanced to the quarter-finals before narrowly losing to England.

The African and Olympic champions go out after the first round of the finals for the third consecutive time after 1994 and 1998.

The Germans have reached the second round at every World Cup since 1938. This was their 13th successive qualification beyond the first round which is a World Cup record.

- REUTERS

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