Efficient Germans beat Wales

Wales were powerless to stop Germany from extending their lead at the top of Group Four with a 2-0 win.

Ballack wonder-strike paves German win on Welsh soil

Wales fought bravely but were powerless to stop Germany from extending their lead at the top of Group Four in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier. A thunderbolt of a strike from Michael Ballack in the 11th minute saw the Germans take the lead at the Millennium Stadium, before Joe Ledley wrongly had a penalty shout turned down after a clear handball by Serdar Tasci. Ashley Williams' own goal at the start of the second half completed the 2-0 defeat in front of a depleted home support. The midweek result sees Joachim Low's side stay top, four points clear of Russia who won at Liechtenstein in the group's other game while John Toshack's team remain fourth with their World Cup hopes all but ended. Wales were dealt a body blow when skipper Craig Bellamy joined talisman Jason Koumas on the casualty list. But Fulham winger Simon Davies overcame his niggling ankle injury to start while Arsenal starlet Aaron Ramsey stepped into Koumas' shoes as playmaker and Hull's Sam Ricketts returned from suspension to bolster Wales' defence.

Swagger

Germany are ranked the second best national side in the world and they approached the match with a typical swagger, dominating the early proceedings with striker Mario Gomez shooting marginally over from distance two minutes in. But Wales responded to the early pressure from Low's side with a dogged display and several crunching tackles more familiar to the Mark Hughes regime. Toshack has tried to mould a more continental style upon the current crop of Welsh Dragons, but they severely lacked the early pressing nature as Germany skipper Ballack was allowed time and he struck in devastating fashion on 11 minutes. The Chelsea man, who once claimed he could not afford to live in London despite his monumental salary, picked up the ball from the left, got his head up, and cracked a 30-yard plus drive which caught Wales shot-stopper Wayne Hennessey completely off-guard. Ballack has now amassed 41 goals in 92 games for his country - a phenomenal record for a midfielder. But Wales showed heart and nearly got back on level terms in the 21st minute when Robert Earnshaw tried to poke home strike partner Sam Vokes' knock-down. Then five minutes later Ledley and the rest of the tamely-sized Welsh support were left baffled, if not robbed as a massive penalty shout fell on deaf ears.

Robbed

The Cardiff midfielder had the beating of Tasci in the penalty area, but as Ledley moved the ball past the German defender, who was on the deck after losing his footing, the centre-back blatantly used his hand to deflect the ball away from danger. Norwegian referee Terje Hauge was perfectly placed, but somehow failed to give the decision which would have surely seen Germany down to ten men and the Group leaders went on to enjoy another dominating period. Former Aston Villa ace Thomas Hitzlsperger was known as 'the Hammer' during his days in the Midlands and the Stuttgart midfielder demonstrated how he came to that alias on 28 minutes as he bludgeoned a left-foot blast which brought the best out of Hennessey. The half-hour mark came and Germany went up another gear with Ballack at his inspirational best, but his brilliant lay-offs failed to be met with the same quality as Gomez and Lukas Podolski squandered their chances. Gareth Bale has still to unlock his international form at club level, but the left-wing back continued his fine form in Wales red in the 36th minute, first winning a free-kick before fizzing in a cross which Danny Collins headed inches wide. Half-time came with Toshack venting his penalty frustrations to the official, but would definitely have been pleased with his side's performance in the first half and the team-talk at the interval would have been for more of the same.

Own-goal

But any confidence going into the second period evaporated almost instantaneously and did so in embarrassing and unfortunate fashion just three minutes in. Gomez chased a long ball into Wales' penalty area and the striker's lucky control gifted him the opportunity to drill a cross across the face of the goal - he did so and Ashley Williams' cheeks went as red as his shirt as he poked the ball into his own net. Robert Enke had little to do throughout the contest, but in the 56 minute Earnshaw came into life and his snap-shot from the edge of the box saw the German keeper pull off a fine reaction save. Past the hour mark the game lost its early punch and the fourth official had the busiest time announcing six substitutes in the second half as both nations made full use of the bench. Despite both teams freshening things up, it ended 2-0, although Wales can definitely look back on this game with more pride than the weekend loss to Finland.

Wales	Team Statistics	Germany
0	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	1
1	Shots on Target	5
7	Shots off Target	6
6	Blocked Shots	3
4	Corners	3
15	Fouls	10
3	Offsides	4
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
79.6	Passing Success	86.1
20	Tackles	26
85	Tackles Success	88.5
36.8	Possession	63.2
44.4	Territorial Advantage	55.6