Germany dream ended by Nigeria

Chrisantus opener
Heiko Herrlich’s side had been improving throughout the tournament and moved into the last four with a 4-1 defeat of England. But they were behind with ten minutes gone in their Suwon semi-final as Rene Vollath could only parry a shot and the tournament’s leading scorer Macaulay Chrisantus picked up the ball, rounded the goalkeeper and shot into an empty net for his seventh goal of the finals.

Germany denied
Nigeria then lost their captain Lukman Haruna to injury, but still doubled the lead on 18 minutes through Yakubu Alfa. Just after the half-hour Germany playmaker Toni Kroos dribbled past the Nigeria defence and shot low to the right of goalkeeper Oladele Ajiboye to pull one back, but although his team dominated the second half they could not force an equaliser and substitute Kabiru Akinsola made it 3-1 with a deft chip in added time. Germany will now meet Ghana for third place on Sunday, to be followed by Spain's bid to deny Nigeria a joint-record third title, when the European champions will be without suspended Bojan Krkić.