After an exciting game in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium of Port Elizabeth, Germany defeated Uruguay by 3-2 and finished third in the World Cup 2010 finals. Diego Forlán and Thomas Müller scored one goal each and are leading the Top Scorer race with five goals, together with Wesley Sneijder and David Villa that still have 90 minutes to play.
The first half of the game was full of great chances, excellent football, and two goals – one for each opponent. Germany had a slight advantage and the overall ball possession, but Uruguay created many quality plays and opportunities on the field. The first big chance of the match was with Arne Friedrich in 10′, that hit the post after a corner kick and a powerful close header. Eight minutes later Germany opened the score with usual suspect Thomas Müller that got the rebound inside the goal area and after a shot by Schweinsteiger that the goalkeeper failed to control properly. Uruguay did not stay behind for long though: In 28′ Diego Pérez stole the ball in the midfield area from Schweinsteiger and gave the assist to Edinson Cavani that had no problem scoring the equalizer. Both teams went after a second goal all the way till the end of the first half but without any success.
The good rhythm of the match continued throughout the entire second half, and the players from both teams did not slow down from the heavy rain and bad terrain. After 6 minutes in the second half Egidio Arévalo from the right side passed the ball to Forlán, that put Uruguay in the lead with a fantastic shot. Germany reacted almost immediately and tied the game 5 minutes later with Marcell Jansen’s header that beat goalkeeper Fernando Muslera in the air. Both Uruguay and Germany lost many good chances to score a third goal during the remaining 30 minutes of the game, a goal that finally came for the Germans in 82′: Mesut Özil’s corner kick sent the ball in the heart of Uruguay’s defense, and Sami Khedira took advantage of the mistake by captain Diego Lugano to score with a close header. Uruguay tried hard to come back and tie the game, and Diego Forlán hit the post during extra time but nothing changed and Germany finished in third place exactly like four years ago.
