Oliver Neuville scored a last gasp goal for Germany against Poland in the World Cup Group A match that took place on Wednesday in Dortmund to move them closer to qualifying to the tournament's second round. Neuville connected with a substitute David Odonkor cross and slid the ball past Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc to grab the victory for Germany deep into injury time. Germany now tops the Group A table with a tally of six points from two wins, the first being 4-2 over Costa Rica, and will guarantee a spot in the last 16 if Ecuador hold the Costa Ricans to a draw, while Poland have no chance to qualify with only one match left to play. The Germans played against Poland with the same line-up that started the Costa Rica match with the exception of Tim Borowski who was replaced with skipper Michael Ballack. The Mannschaft started the game aiming to score an early goal but were confronted by a tight Poland defense until Miroslav Klose wasted Germany's first chance to score after finishing a Ballack cross straight into goalkeeper Boruc in the 10th minute.
Klose squandered another chance for Germany in the 21st minute after heading a perfect Philipp Lahm cross past the Polish net. Striker Lukas Podolski also came close to scoring in the last minute of the first-hald when he fired a Lahm low-cross right beside the left side of the Boruc net. On the other hand, Ireneusz Jelen missed Poland's best chance to score after firing the ball from the edge of the German area into Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's clutches. Poland's Radoslaw Sobolewski was sent off in the 75th minute after being booked twice for different offences. German coach Jurgen Klinsmann decided to field substitute David Odonkor to reinforce the attacking-line in the last 20 minutes of the match and his arrival seemingly added the additional spark for the Mannschaft after dishing the assist that grabbed the winner.
