On to the Next Round

Germany sprung into the round of 16 with a tough, physical win against the African champion Cameroon Tuesday.

The 2-0 victory in Shizouka, Japan was marked by 16 yellow cards and the ejection of one player from each side. Miroslav Klose added to his World Cup-best goal count with his fifth headball goal in three games and keeper Oliver Kahn had several crucial saves in a rough first half for the German side.

"The players rose to the occasion in the exact moment in which they were challenged," said team coach Rudi Völler. "That's how new teams are born."

The victory combined with Ireland’s 3-0 win against Saudia Arabia means Germany wins group E. Ireland advances with them to the round of 16. Cameroon, and their German coach Winfried Schäfer, goes home early after so much expectation.

The "Indomitable lions" came out strong and physical against an equally combative German side. Striker Salomon Olembe lost a one-on-one opportunity against Kahn in the 12th minute, when the goalie came out of the box to challenge him, stopping his shot.

Twelve minutes later Cameroon got a second good chance following a foul 18 meters from the German goal. The free kick was punched out by Kahn and the rebound sailed out of bounds off the German defense. Just two minutes later, Rigoberto Song, who plays for Bundesliga team 1. FC Köln, dove and placed a header just left of the goal post.

Yellow fever

A few minutes later Spanish referee Antonio Lopez Nieto handed out the first of what would be an avalanche of yellow cards. German midfielder Didi Hamann was marked for his tackle on Marc-Vivien Foe. The card, his second in three games, means Hamann is barred from playing in Germany’s next game.

Midfielder Michael Ballack, striker Carsten Jancker, Kahn and defender Carsten Ramelow were also tagged for yellow cards. Ramelow received yellow-red (photo) after his second yellow in the 39th minute for an open field tackle on charging Geremi Njitap, one of the few bright stars for Cameroon in the game. But the lions failed to do anything with the free kick.

Christian Ziege also get his second yellow in three games, barring him from play against Germany’s next opponent. The end of the first half was a welcome relief to Germany, playing a man down against an athletic and attacking Cameroon side.

The best offense is a good defense

Coach Rudi Völler opened the second half by substituting utility player Marco Bode in for Jancker. The substitution signaled the conservative course the German side was taking to preserve the 0-0, which would have been enough for them to advance.

Cameroon spent a lot of time in the German half of the field at the beginning of the second half and German defenders played far off the Cameroon players, waiting for the Cameroon attack. But it never really came.

Instead, Klose sprung free with the ball and used some nifty dribbling to stave off three Cameroon players as he made his way downfield. He thread a beautiful pass through the Cameroon defense to a charging Bode who kicked it in with his left foot past the stretched-out keeper Boukar Alioum. The goal in the 49th minute gave Germany a 1-0 lead.

Victory secured with Klose header

The match then got even more physical, with several scuffles breaking out between the teams during stopped play. Cameroon’s Patrick Suffo became the second yellow-red victim of the day, when he got his second yellow card after a hard tackle.

The ejection meant the teams had the same amount of players on the field after 77 minutes. The Germans used the opportunity to go on the offensive. Midfielder Bernd Schneider, among the most creative playmakers on the team, delivered a nice pass to Ballack streaking down the right side. Ballack curved a butter-soft cross to Klose in the center, who timed the header perfectly and bounced it past a diving Boukar.

The Cameroon side never got another chance at the goal and Germany preserved its win in front of 42,000 fans.