Soccer: Neuville goal puts Germany through

11:30pm

SOGWIPO, South Korea - A goal two minutes from time by Oliver Neuville has given triple champions Germany a 1-0 win over Paraguay and a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.

The dull match, the first of the second round, was drifting towards extra time on Saturday when the striker, starting his first game at the finals, latched on to a cross by Bernd Schneider and struck home a first-time shot from six metres.

Paraguay midfielder Roberto Acuna was sent off in the dying seconds after striking Germany's playmaker Michael Ballack in an off-the-ball incident.

The South American team were knocked out of the 1998 World Cup with the first and only golden goal scored at a finals, by Laurent Blanc for France who were the eventual champions.

Paraguay's flamboyant goalkeeper and captain Jose Luis Chilavert said: "The Germans were lucky today. We lost, but we lost well. Germany didn't play better than us, we matched them."

But Germany coach Rudi Voeller said: "We deserved to win. I believe we were the better team. We have to see the tournament realistically. We have been able to stand up to the pressure.

"We came here knowing we're not a team that can put other teams up against the wall. Our goal has been to reach the semi-finals. We have to maintain our modesty now."

The Germans go on to meet either Mexico or the United States, but Voeller said he had no preference regarding their opponents.

"Both are very good teams and I do not mind who we play," he said. "All the teams left had a very good first round. It doesn't make any difference who we play next."

Germany goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn added: "The most decisive thing is the mentality, the belief we can stay in the tournament and advance. Everything is possible now. It's thoroughly possible we can run all the way through."

Germany have reached the last eight of the World Cup a record 14 out of 15 times in the last 50 years -- the exception was 1978 -- while Paraguay have never advanced beyond the second round.

"We played well and I'm very happy to have scored the winner. I'm pleased to have played the whole of a World Cup game for the first time," said Neuville, who was told just two hours before the match that he would start.

He lost his place shortly before the finals when he missed Germany's warm-up games because he was with Bayer Leverkusen as they prepared for the Champions League final.

Voeller dropped Carsten Jancker and brought in Neuville to partner Miroslav Klose up front. Marko Rehmer, Jens Jeremies and Marco Bode came in for defender Carsten Ramelow and midfielders Dietmar Hamann and Christian Ziege, who were all suspended.

But neither side flourished in the opening stages and there was little goalmouth action until Paraguay threatened with a left-foot drive from wing-back Denis Caniza on 19 minutes.

Kahn was made to work three minutes later, punching a 25-metre free-kick from defender Francisco Arce over his bar.

Paraguay lost striker Roque Santa Cruz before the half-hour mark with a left thigh injury picked up early in the match and he was replaced by Jorge Campos, who soon tested Kahn with a curling drive that the goalkeeper did well to tip away.

Germany had their best chance before the break when Klose fired over from a Marco Bode pass in the 32nd minute.

Chilavert did not have to make a save until Schneider fired straight at him two minutes after the interval.

The Paraguay goalkeeper was kept busy as he had to dive on an attempt from just outside the box by Neuville in the 62nd minute.

Paraguay's captain then left his goal to take a well-placed free-kick 10 minutes later but his effort flew well over the bar as his bid to become the first keeper to score at a World Cup finals failed.

Klose, the tournament's top scorer with five goals, headed over from a Ballack cross in the 78th minute but Neuville broke the deadlock 10 minutes later to send Germany through.

There were plenty of empty seats for the first knockout match of the tournament on a sunny day in the Korean holiday resort.

"It was a difficult match, playing in the afternoon with the sun shining," said Kahn. The atmosphere is not the same, it's not what you'd expect for a round of 16 match at the World Cup."

- REUTERS

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