Germany

Sami Khedira headed home the winning goal to ensure that Europe claims a 1-2-3 at the tournament.

The Germans took the lead in the first half, but Uruguay led 2-1 at one stage after the interval. Thomas Mueller scored his fifth goal of the tournament to edge the Germans ahead, Edison Cavani levelled and then Diego Forlan matched Mueller’s achievement by notching his fifth goal only for Marcell Jansen to make it 2-2.

The Germans had their share of luck, as Forlan hit the bar with a free-kick deep into injury time. And they might have had to play with 10 men for virtually the whole game if the referee had been harsher on Dennis Aogo’s dreadful challenge on Diego Perez.

Germany made most of the early running, forcing Jorge Fucile and Diego Lugano into some desperate clearances. The South American defence was very nearly breached on ten minutes when a deep corner from Mesut Oezil was firmly headed against the bar by Arne Friedrich, with Fernando Muslera beaten. Mueller could not wrestle home the rebound.

But Bastian Schweinsteiger paved the way for Germany’s first goal, his long range shot being spilled by Muslera for Mueller to react quickly and net the rebound.

Forlan had already worried the German rearguard with a blocked back post header from a deflected cross by the time Cavani drew the sides level. Perez superbly picked the pocket of Schweinsteiger in the centre of the park, setting in motion a break that saw the Europeans outnumbered from the outset. Luis Suarez rolled a well-weighted pass to the Palmero striker, who took a touch before stretching to prod the ball by Butt and into the net.

Uruguay might have grabbed the lead four minutes before the break. Forlan’s clever reverse pass released Suarez but the Ajax striker dragged his shot wide from a somewhat awkward angle.

Arevalo Rios found himself uncharacteristically far forward down the right and lobbed a waist-height pass back towards the edge of the box, from where Forlan showed stunning poise to volley home a terrific goal with his right foot.

Germany had posed no serious threat after the interval until they levelled up on 55 minutes. Jerome Boateng’s cross from deep on the right side was badly missed by the out-of-sorts Muslera, allowing Jansen to unconventionally knock the ball into the empty net with his head.

Stefan Kiessling was introduced by Joachim Loew to add some attacking flair at the expense of Cacau. The Bayer Leverkusen man’s clever turn in the box with quarter of an hour brought with it a scoring chance, though his drive was straight at Muslera, who batted the ball uncomfortably clear.

Loew’s side were looking the more likely side to snatch third place, and they did just that with nine minutes remaining. Another deep Oezil corner was allowed to bounce about the six yard box. Khedira ultimately got the decisive touch, sending a clever header looping over Muslera and into the top corner of the net.

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All the midweek excitement in the Premiership centred on Tottenham’s win over Manchester City which guaranteed the North London club their first crack at the Champions League. However, they still have something more to play for.

Spurs win took them to within two points of Arsenal who lie in third place. If Harry Redknapp’s side could overtake the Gunners it would be worth more than just bragging rights in North London.

Though finishing fourth in the table offers a shot at the main European competition, the fourth English participant has to go through tough qualifiers to reach the lucrative group stage.

Arsenal had to go via that route in this campaign and Arsene Wenger would desperately like to avoid that again, as the games take place almost before the league season has begun and new men are being bedded in.

• You can bet on this outcome: Can Arsenal Finish Third?

The new rules adopted for the Champions League qualifiers mean that the last English side could face opponents from top leagues like Italy, Spain or Germany.

The Gunners still hold the advantage over their bitter rivals, although they have to assume that Spurs will take maximum points from their trip to Burnley on the final day of the season.

Unless Burnley suffer a complete collapse, a point in their home game against Fulham will be enough for Arsenal as they are currently ten goals to the good on goal difference.

With the Europa League Final coming up, Roy Hodgson is very unlikely to send out a full strength Fulham team but that can have its dangers for Arsenal. There will be players trying to clinch a place on the bench for the final against Athletico Madrid- and they will be more motivated than is normal for a mid-table side.

• You can bet on this outcome: Can Spurs Finish Third?

Other members of the side will relish the chance to start at the Emirates and players like striker Erik Nevland could see this as his last game in the Premiership- and want to go out in style.

The pressure is all on Arsenal to make sure they don’t slip up at the death. Their players will be kicking themselves for allowing this situation to develop when third place seemed a certainty just a few weeks ago.

Related posts:

1. Arsenal Fluff Their Lines Against Premiership Title Rivals
2. Premiership Predications: Spurs Can Damage Manchester United’s Title Hopes
3. Bendtner Keeps Arsenal On The Premiership Title Pace

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