Serbia topple mighty Germany

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP):

Milan Jovanovic scored one minute after Germany striker Miroslav Klose was sent off yesterday, giving Serbia a 1-0 win over the three-time World Cup champions in Group D.

Jovanovic side-footed a shot past Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in the 38th minute, to leave both teams with three points in the group.

"The second half was not 45 minutes, it was like two years for us," Jovanovic said.

"We beat Germany after 37 years and it's something real big for us."

Serbia were part of former Yugoslavia, which played Germany six times in a World Cup and only won in the 1962 quarter-finals - 48 years ago. The last time Yugoslavia beat Germany in any match was 37 years ago, in 1973.

First World Cup win

Yesterday's win was Serbia's first in the World Cup as an independent nation.

Lukas Podolski had a chance to equalise in the 60th minute, but he missed a penalty, sending a weak shot to the left of Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, who read it and stopped it.

"It was a difficult game, a very important game for us," said Stojkovic, who was Man of the Match. "This is a great victory for all of us. We have showed we are a good team and we believe in ourselves."

Needless handball

Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic gave away the penalty in the 59th with a handball, the same needless move that cost Serbia the match against Ghana, when Zdravko Kuzmanovic did the same and Ghana scored for a 1-0 win.

"It was my fault. I missed," Podolski said. "I accept responsibility and I don't want to dwell on it."

The last time Germany missed a non-shoot-out penalty at a World Cup was in 1974, a miss by Uli Hoeness against Poland.

The last time Germany lost a group match was in 1986, 2-0 against Denmark. Germany still reached the final.

"If we had conceded a goal on the penalty, it would have had great repercussions," Serbia coach Radomir Antic said.

Weak link

Stojkovic, often considered the weak link in the Serbia's team, grabbed the game ball after the match and stuck it under his jersey.

Klose was sent off after a rough tackle in the 37th earned him a second yellow card. He received his first yellow in the 12th.

"Football is a contact sport and one factor should be whether there was malice and intention," said Klose, who has 11 World Cup goals. "I thought I went after the ball."

Spanish referee Alberto Undiano handed out nine yellow cards, the most so far in any game at this year's tournament.

"This was not necessary, there were a couple of fouls that were justified from behind," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "But there were many yellow cards that could have been avoided, that were not malicious."

Line-ups:

Germany: Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Arne Friedrich, Holger Badstuber (Mario Gomez, 77), Thomas Mueller (Marko Marin, 70), Sami Khedira, Mesut Oezil (Cacau, 70), Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas, Podolski, Miroslav Klose.

Serbia: Vladimir Stojkovic, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nemanja Vidic, Neven Subotic, Branislav Ivanovic, Zdravko Kuzamovic (Radosav Petrovic, 75) Dejan Stankovic, Milan Jovanovic (Danko Lazovic, 78), Milos Ninkovic (Gojko Kacar, 70), Milos Krasic, Nikola Zigic. 

Games on

• Netherlands vs Japan 6:30 a.m.
  
• Ghana vs Australia 9 a.m.
  
• Cameroon vs Denmark 1:30 p.m.