FIFA 2010 World Cup Preview: Australia 2 - 1 Serbia

Both teams ruled out of the tournament

Australia beat Serbia 2-1 to seal both teams' exit from the World Cup. The Socceroos looked like they might cause an upset after going ahead, but Serbia's Marko Pantelic hit back to see them miss out by a single goal.

Ultimately Serbia paid for their earlier profligacy as second-half goals from Tim Cahill and Brett Holman sent them crashing out.

Australia's effort dragged them off the bottom of the group but it was too little too late as Ghana edged them out of the second round on goal difference. It was a face-saving win for Australia that seemed barely likely in the first half as they struggled to cope with Serbia's pace and technical excellence.

Serbia had the first opportunity when Milos Krasic, booed by Australia's sizeable following after a tumble in the box moments earlier, burst into the box and fired at Mark Schwarzer from a tight angle.

Krasic had another chance after 11 minutes as Serbia broke quickly following an Australia corner. Milos Ninkovic played him through with a superb pass but the CSKA Moscow star shot high and wide after rounding the advancing Schwarzer.

Serbia maintained the pressure and went close again when Zdravko Kuzmanovic shot across the face of goal.

Australia were struggling to handle the speed of the Serbian attacks and were grateful when Schwarzer stuck out an arm to deny Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic from inside the six-yard box. They were limited to firing in crosses from deep but it was 32 minutes before Serbia failed to deal with one and Cahill headed his side's first good chance wide.

Australia were almost caught out by another slick Serbia move before the break but Krasic was marginally offside before flicking the ball past Schwarzer.

The Socceroos began the second period with more purpose and won a free-kick after Cahill tangled with Nemanja Vidic. Marco Bresciano drilled the set-piece in low but Nikola Zigic was back to clear.

Cahill also sliced a shot wide from a Josh Kennedy flick-on but the Socceroos remained vulnerable on the counter-attack. Milan Jovanovic broke clear on the left and Zigic controlled his cross brilliantly only to shoot over.

Australia, again showing more intent, went close as Jason Culina drilled a low shot wide.

Bresciano then forced Vladimir Stojkovic to make his first serious save from a low free-kick after Ninkovic was booked for a late tackle on Luke Wilkshire.

Kuzmanovic headed a good chance wide for Serbia but the eastern Europeans were starting to look concerned.

They paid the price for their earlier profligacy as Wilkshire picked out Cahill with a superb cross in the 69th minute and the Everton star headed powerfully home in familiar fashion.

Serbia were rattled and Australia began to sense an unlikely opportunity as substitute Holman broke forward four minutes later and unleashed a ferocious shot that flew past Stojkovic from 30 yards.

Serbia grabbed a lifeline six minutes from time as Schwarzer spilled a long-range Zoran Tosic shot and fellow substitute Pantelic pounced from close range.

That allowed them to regain their composure and they created one last gilt-edged chance but Pantelic was unable to stay onside and missed the target anyway.

Fifa 2010 World Cup: Germany 0 - 1 Sebia

Jovanovic strike sinks ten-man Germany

Milan Jovanovic and Vladimir Stojkovic teamed up to re-ignite Serbia's World Cup campaign as much-praised Germany faltered.

Jovanovic blasted home a 38th-minute winner from close range two minutes after Germany striker Miroslav Klose had been sent off, and Wigan keeper Stojkovic saved a second-half Lukas Podolski penalty to blow Group D wide open.

Each of the three games in the group to date has seen a red card, and Klose will be suspended for Wednesday's final first round clash with Ghana in Johannesburg as Serbia take on Australia in Nelspruit.

Germany arrived in Port Elizabeth having established themselves among the favourites to win the tournament once again following a crushing 4-0 defeat of the Socceroos in their first game, but with coach Joachim Low insisting he had not been completely satisfied by their performance in Durban.

Low's mood will have darkened considerably after an opening 45 minutes at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium during which little went right for his team.

Podolski blasted a seventh-minute volley just wide, but in a largely uninspiring first half, the fireworks came in the last nine minutes.

Spanish referee Alberto Undiano had issued the first of six yellow cards to Klose for a foul on Branislav Ivanovic with just 12 minutes gone, and it was the Germany striker who also collected the final caution of the opening 45 minutes for a trip on Serbia skipper Dejan Stankovic.

Things were to deteriorate further for the Germans within two minutes when impressive winger Milos Krasic picked out 6ft 6in striker Nikola Zigic at the far post and he headed down for Jovanovic to control in front of goal and steer the ball past stranded Germany keeper Manuel Neuer.

Low's men belatedly responded with midfielder Sami Khedira firing against the underside of the crossbar and Thomas Muller forcing a goal-line clearance from Aleksandar Kolarov with his follow-up in injury time, but Serbia held out.

Werder Bremen midfielder Mesut Ozil, who had started the game playing behind Klose, found himself pushed further forward after the break, but it was Podolski who shot across the face of goal within a minute of the restart.

For all they were a man short, it was Germany who made the running during the opening minutes of the second half, and it took a last-ditch challenge by Nemanja Vidic to prevent Bastian Schweinsteiger from collecting Philipp Lahm's superb 54th-minute through-ball.

Stojkovic spilled Schweinsteiger's well-struck shot seconds later and was grateful to see Podolski fire wide of the far post under pressure from Ivanovic with the Germans turning the screw.

But Stojkovic came to the rescue on the hour when, after Vidic had needlessly handled in the area, he dived to his left to save Podolski's spot-kick.

Serbia might have increased their lead, but Jovanovic's 67th-minute shot came back off the post and Zigic's header clipped the bar seven minutes later with Neuer beaten.

Stojkovic had to turn away substitute Marko Marin's deflected shot with 12 minutes remaining, but there was no way back for the Germans.

World Cup 2010 - Gyan guides Ghana past Serbia

Asamoah Gyan's late penalty saw Ghana  defeat Serbia  1-0 in the World Cup Group D opener at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.

Gyan calmly rifled an 84th minute spot kick into the roof of the net after Serbia sub Zdravko Kuzmanovic had handled.

Just 10 minutes earlier Serbia had been reduced to 10 men after Aleksandar Lukovic was dismissed for a second bookable offence and his misery was compounded as the late goal saw his nation slip to their fourth consecutive World Cup finals defeat.

Kevin Prince-Boateng was setting himself to volley Andre Ayew's long cross but Stuttgart midfielder Kuzmanovic had time to head clear only for the ball to brush his outstretched hand.

It was an inexplicable error but the Black Stars were the better side in a lively encounter as coach Milovan Rajevac engineered the downfall of his homeland.

Early on, the impressive Kwadwo Asamoah rifled in an angled shot which Nikola Zigic poked behind without any control and it could easily have nestled in his own net.

Soon after Asamoah's superb free-kick was met by John Mensah but the big Sunderland defender was unable direct his header on target while Gyan was just a fraction away of meeting a delicious centre from Boateng.

Serbia, for whom Marko Pantelic unleashed an audacious 35-yard effort inside 10 seconds, were not without moments of their own in the opening period.

Aleksandar Kolarov's left footed free-kick just curled over the corner of post and bar while Dejan Stankovic's skidding shot bounced in front of Richard Kingson who was able to claim at the second attempt.

After the break, a great cross from the right by Prince Tagoe found Ayew but he failed to get his header on target from six yards and Serbia immediately went up the other end only for new Birmingham striker Nikola Zigic to fail to make clean contact with his volley from point blank range.

Gyan then headed Pantsil's long-throw against the outside of his post before Lukovic's dismissal.

After earlier being booked for a late tackle on Asamoah, the centre back tugged back Gyan to become the third player dismissed in these finals. It was a needless challenge 45 yards from goal but it initially did not hinder his side.

Danko Lazovic's cut back from the by-line was well struck by Milos Krasic but Kingson tipped over and from the resulting corner Nemanja Vidic headed over the top.

A marauding run from Branislav Ivanovic and a good hit from distance followed before Serbia were rocked by the penalty decision.

Kuzmanovic did have a chance to make amends for his blunder but smashed a shot over the bar and Gyan could have put some icing on the cake in the final minute but his curling effort came back off the inside of the post.

However Ghana took the three points and at full-time, the first African victory of the first African finals was met with scenes of rapturous joy.

World Cup 2010 - Gyan's penalty saves Ghana as

The impressive Gyan, who also hit the post twice for Ghana, fired home from the spot in 84th minute after Kuzmanovic had been adjudged to have handled a cross in the area.

That sealed a closely-fought Group D encounter at Loftus Versfeld stadium and puts Ghana in a promising position to progress through to the knockout phase in their second appearance at the World Cup finals.

For Serbia, who were playing with a man less since the 74th minute following the dismissal of Lukovic, they now have a mountain to climb as they face group favourites Germany in their next match.

The match pitted old friends and fellow Serbians Radomir Antic and Milovan Rajevac against each other on the respective benches of the two sides, and both seemed keen to take the game to their opponents.

Antic's Serbia had the first effort in the first 15 seconds when Marko Pantelic fizzed a 30-yard thunderbolt not too far wide. However, despite the best intentions of both sides, neither goalkeeper was seriously threatened in the first half.

Four-time African champions Ghana looked the more dangerous of the two, but they failed to find the target with their two best opportunities. The first saw Gyan curl a free-kick over from a dangerous position on the edge of the box, then captain John Mensah failed to get a decent connection on a header from a free-kick seven yards out.

Serbia's main threat before the break came from a couple of well-worked set-piece routines, neither featuring the anticipated high ball into the area looking for the head of giant striker Nikola Zigic.

The first saw one training-ground routine pick out the unmarked Pantelic inside the area, but poor control let him down and Ghana could breathe again. The second saw left-back Aleksandar Kolarov opt to go for goal from 30 yards out and the reported Real Madrid target, like Pantelic in the first minute, was not far away from finding the top corner with a well-struck shot.

The first opportunity of the second half should have resulted in the game's opening goal - but Andre Ayew headed wide. Prince Tagoe's cross from the right cleared Serbia centre-back Nemanja Vidic and fell perfectly for Ayew at the far post, but his downward header went wide.

Moments later at the other end Zigic missed a similarly gilt-edged chance for Serbia. Pantelic's cross into the middle picked out his strike partner but the 6ft 7in forward completely miscued his volley from six yards out. That was probably a better opening than Ayew's, and Ghana almost made Zigic pay for his profligacy by nearly taking the lead in the 60th minute.

Gyan climbed above Vidic to reach a long throw-in into the area, and the Rennes player was unfortunate to see his header hit the outside of the near post.

The introduction of experienced midfielder Stephen Appiah in the 72nd minute was well received by the noisy and sizeable contingent of Ghana fans, and they were given further cause for hope two minutes later when Serbia lost Lukovic to a red card.

Lukovic, who had been booked at the start of the period, was shown a second yellow card after pulling back Gyan.

Despite the setback Serbia looked the more dangerous side over the next five minutes. Milos Krasic brought a fine block out of Kingson, Vidic headed over from a corner and Branislav Ivanovic fired over as well.

Ghana survived that spell though, and in the 84th minute they were handed the chance to take the game when Kuzmanovic was adjudged to have handled a cross into the area, earning Rajevac's side a penalty.

Kuzmanovic protested his innocence but the decision stood and Gyan stepped up to slam his spot-kick past Stojkovic, to the delight of the Ghana fans.

Kuzmanovic had a chance to make amends soon after but he blazed over, while man of the match Gyan could have added a second late on but his shot rebounded back off the post.