Germany Finish Third At World Cup

Germany and Uruguay faced off on Saturday night Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is battle it out for third place at the 2010 World Cup.

And while it wasn't the match that both sides hoped to play in this weekend it was a closely fought contest that Germany snatched in the eighty second minute with a goal from Sami Khedira.

Germany dominated the opening twenty minutes of the match as they held onto possession and it looked like they were in for a straightforward evening when Muller got their first goal of the evening after Fernando Muslera couldn't hold onto a Schweinsteiger strike.

But Uruguay settled down and started to play the football that had seen them get to the semi-final and Germany's lead only lasted ten minutes as Cavani levelled the score.

Schweinsteiger was comfortably dispossessed by Perez, who passed to Forlan before he fed the ball through to Cavani and he saw off keeper Butt to find the back of the net.

Back on level terms Uruguay were playing and passing beautifully and finally seemed to have found their confidence and rhythm. They were unlucky not to move ahead just before half time as Suarez picked up a pass for Forlan but sent the shot wide of the post.

And Uruguay picked up at the beginning of the second half where they had left off at the end of the first forty five minutes and seemed to be playing with more passion and drive than the Germans.

Cavani and Suarez had both come close but their attacking play was rewarded after six minutes as Diego Forlan was once again on hand to give them the lead, a lead they thoroughly deserved.

Forlan found himself on the end of a Arevalo cross and a volley saw him pick up a fifth goal of the World Cup.

However their lead only lasted four minutes as poor goal keeping from Muslera saw Germany pulled level. He failed to deal with a cross from Boateng which resulted in Jansen having a wide open net to aim for, he didn't miss.

Uruguay were now on the back foot as Germany began to press once again as Kiessling came close on two occasions. But it was Khedira eight minutes before the end of the match who grabbed the winner.

However Uruguay almost grabbed an equaliser in the dying minutes of the match when a free kick from Forlan, which was the last kick of the game, came off the bar to deny the South American side extra time.

A 3-2 win for Germany saw the team that no one fancied before the tournament finish third while Uruguay was the best placed South American side in South Africa.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw