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Germany defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 |
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Germany's new captain Philipp Lahm and vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger ensured Joachim Low's side defeated Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 in Frankfurt in their final warm-up game before the World Cup.
Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko gave the visitors a rather fortuitous lead in the 15th minute but Lahm restored parity early in the second half.
Two penalties from Schweinsteiger then earned Germany an impressive win which will give them confidence as they prepare to fly out to South Africa this weekend.
Germany started brightly with Lukas Podolski rattling the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the ninth minute.
As was the case against Hungary at the weekend, Germany were unable to reflect their superiority in goals and they were punished after a quarter of an hour. Lahm was unfortunate to see his attempted clearance rebound off the chest of Dzeko, who looked reluctant to celebrate as the ball looped fortunately over Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into the back of the net.
Despite falling behind, Germany did not fall to pieces and they continued to play an impressive, swift attacking football, albeit without managing to provide the finish.
Miroslav Klose was again a disappointment in attack and it was not until he was replaced by Cacau that the hosts began to pose a threat. But it was their full-back Lahm who made up for his earlier misfortune to bring Germany level in the 51st minute.
He received the ball midway inside the Bosnia half and advanced towards the edge of the penalty area, from where he drilled his shot right into the top left-hand corner of the goal, the ball grazing both the crossbar and post on its way in.
Mesut Ozil was the next Germany player to hit the woodwork less than 60 seconds later, but he suffered the same fate as Podolski as the ball cannoned back into play.
The hosts stepped up a gear and were rewarded when Sanel Jahic fouled Marko Marin inside the penalty area in the 73rd minute. Schweinsteiger stepped up to coolly place his first penalty in, but referee Nicola Rizzoli was not ready and asked the Germany vice-captain to repeat his spot-kick, which he did with equal aplomb to put Low's side in front.
Rizzoli pointed to the spot again five minutes later when Thomas Muller was fouled by Emir Spahic. Schweinsteiger picked the same spot as before to double Germany's lead and give them a comfortable victory in their final warm-up game before flying to South Africa on Sunday.
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