Fischer inspires German victory
Germany 4-0 Serbia and Montenegro
May 8 2006
By Andrew Haigh, Stade John Grun, Mondorf.
Manuel Fischer became the final's joint top-scorer when he bagged a first half hat-trick as Germany eased into
the semis as winners of Group B.
The prolific frontman, who scored eight goals in qualifying, took his tally to four goals in three matches as his
side ran out 4-0 winners over Serbia and Montenegro.
The Germans, needing just one point to qualify, were on top from the start of the match and never looked like missing
out on a semi-final spot.
Fischer scored the first of his treble with just six minutes on the clock, running onto a lofted through ball and
slotting home from inside the area.
His second came on 23 minutes when a defensive error by the Serbians gave him the opportunity to lob keeper Marko
Knezevic which he made the most of with a cool finish.
FK Partizan's Stevan Jovetic could have pulled one back for Serbia and Montenegro before Fischer's third, only
to be denied by a smart save by Ron-Robert Zieler.
On 37 minutes, Fischer's hat-trick was complete as he headed in a cross, ruining any hopes of a comeback.
To Serbia and Montenegro's credit, they fought back, if only for pride, but couldn't score against a German defence
who have still to concede in the finals.
But even when the eastern European side had the better of the match, Germany still managed to score a fourth.
A crisp, flowing move ended with Christopher Schorch sending a glorious through ball to substitute Stefan Reinartz
who slotted the ball past Knezevic into the goal.
The goal turned the game back in the way of Germany and Marko Marin and Fischer once more could have added to the
final tally.
The final whistle blew confirming a 14th straight match without defeat for the Germans this term, a run which has
seen them score 50 goals and concede just four.
Teams:
Germany: Ron Robert Zieler, Bjorn Kopplin, David Vrzogic, Christopher Schorch, Florian Jungwirth (Stefan Reinartz,
47), Sven Bender (Danny Latza, 40), Marko Marin, Lars Bender, Manuel Fisher, Toni Kroos (Mattias Wittek, 59), Mario
Vrancic.
Subs: Sascha Burchert, Raphael Lorenz, Sebastian Huke, Timo Gebhart.
Serbia and Montenegro: Marko Knezevic, Dusan Brkovic, Rajko Brezancic (Slavko Perovic, 50), Sasa Blagojevic, Milos
Nikolic (Marko Nikolic, 63), Nikola Gulan, Stevan Jovetic, Nenad Adamovic, Igor Miladinovic, Darko Karadzic, Slavko
Lukic (Veljko Vukovic, 40).
Subs: Zivko Zivkovic, Vladan Pelicic, Zarija Pelicic, Goran Cetnik. |
