Serbia Vs Germany results: Referee Mallenco scores a red to help Serbia win
Germany suffered its first World Cup group stage defeat since 1986 at the hands of Serbia, 1-0, at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Milan Jovanovic was the lone goal scorer in a match that featured plenty of drama, which is not easily reflected in the score sheet.
Both teams started off positively with early balls in and shots after four minutes of action. Both teams looked to attack early with Germany just a little bit more in control of the midfield and possession.
However, the real story of this game was about neither a Serb nor a German – it was Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco. He gave the first of a total of eight yellow cards in the 12th minute to Germany star striker Miroslav Klose, for a series of clumsy challenges.
It looked to have fired up Klose as he was involved right away after that booking in a link up play with Mesut Ozil and was just offside a few minutes later off a pass from Bayern Munich teammate Thomas Mueller.
It was in a five minute spell afterward that a series of cautions was handed out – two for the Serbs and one for the Germans. Serb defenders Branislav Ivanovic and Aleksandar Kolarov were both booked in the 18th and 19th minute, respectively for what seemed to be soft challenges. After three minutes, German midfielder Sami Khedira was yellow-carded for tugging Milos Krasic.
Krasic then got just outside the penalty box when he wasbrought down hard by German captain Philipp Lahm, who deservedly received the fifth yellow card of the match. Kolarov then took the subsequent free kick that beat the wall but was also wide of the post.
It was the sixth yellow card that turned around the match though. Referee Mallenco harshly gave a second yellow to Klose in the 36th minute, which meant that Germany would have to go the rest of the game with 10 men.
It was almost instantaneous as Serbia scored a minute after the sending off, after giant striker Nicolas Zigic headed down a cross for Jovanovic to coolly volley in from inside the six-yard box.
Serbia looked to attack with a man advantage but the Germans held on and had a great chance to tie when they won a corner at the brink of halftime. Khendira hit the bar on a strike from inside the penalty box after the corner caught Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic off his line.
The second half was more interesting as Serbia could choose to attack and go for the commanding 2-0 lead, or sit back and protect the goal advantage with an extra man. Not to be lost, however, is the resilience of the Germans, who played with fire even with their star striker out.
Lukas Podolski was active as he had a few chances that were defended well by Serbia, and a shot that went wide. A huge break came in the 60th minute when Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic was correctly called for a handball inside the box and subsequently booked. Penalty to Germany!
Podolski stepped up to take the spot kick with a tremendous chance to equalize. He fired to the goalkeeper’s left, but the goalkeeper correctly guessed his direction. Penalty saved! Opportunity wasted for Germany, who were still down 1-0.
Serbia then looked content to defend and counter attack. A great opportunity came as they had numbers on a break, but Jovanovic’s strike hit the post and careened off.
With 20 minutes left, the Germans looked to inject some life with Cacau and Marko Marin coming in as substitutes. However, it was the Serbians who should’ve scored the decider when Zigic hit the bar with a header off a pinpoint cross from Krasic.
Germany looked desperate when they sent in Mario Gomez, a striker, to replace Holger Badstuber, a defender. The Germans had control of the ball for most of the remaining time but the Serbians held well defensively to deny them a legitimate chance to equalize.
Both Germany and Serbia now have three points apiece having both won one match and lost one.
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