Germany vs. Portugal, Third-place match, July 8
By Chris Harris
It's the Rodney Dangerfield of soccer games. A match often overlooked and disrespected due the circus-style buzz surrounding the next day's final.
But let's put things in perspective. This showdown decides the third-best soccer country in the world. With more than 200-plus member nations in FIFA, from Brazil to Bhutan, finishing third is far from shabby.
The two teams in today's tilt should put on an entertaining show. The host Germans would love to give their fans one final reason to celebrate, while the Portuguese would relish a chance to finish an impressive World Cup run with another quality effort. And their fans want one more reason to wave flags and honk horns.
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Speaking of the World Cup final... only one more sleep 'til the big game. Italy and France - two European soccer superpowers - clash in what has the makings for a sensational championship match.Italy will try to avenge a crushing loss to France at the Euro 2000 final, while Zinedine Zidane and the French will attempt to win their second World Cup title in eight years. Be sure to catch all the action with our live blow-by-blow blog starting at 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday. OK soccer fans - try to get some shuteye tonight. If you can.
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It has to be said again. Portugal deserves lots of credit for a strong showing in Germany. By winning their group and eliminating the Netherlands and England in the knockout phase, coach Scolari's side has proven it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the world's top teams.
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Final score: Germany 3 Portugal 1. German coach Juergen Klinsmann and his players celebrate their victory in the third-place contest. It's not the World Cup final, but still a strong way for the host country to end a quality tournament.88th minute
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL! Germany 3 Portugal 1. Nuno Gomes snaps Oliver Kahn's shutout with a deserved Portuguese goal. The Benefica forward takes a crisp cross from Figo and heads the ball into the German net. Great to see Figo get in on the action.83rd minute
Kahn comes through again with an impressive save on a long, hard free kick by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese and their young star continue to press for a goal.81st minute
Full credit to Portugal. They still want a goal out of this one, but Oliver Kahn appears just as determined to keep his clean sheet.78th minute
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL! Germany 3 Portugal 0. Bastian Schweinsteiger brings Michael Schumacher to life with his second goal of the match. Yet another scintillating strike from the budding star. After scoring, and a little shirtless celebration, Schweinsteiger jogs off to a hero's ovation and is replaced by Thomas Hitzlsperger.76th minute
Here comes Luis Figo onto the field to a warm reception from both the Portuguese and German fans. He accepts the captain's armband from Pauleta. Great to see that, albeit a cameo of sorts, Figo will get a chance to say goodbye.73rd minute
F-1 driver Michael Schumacher is in the house. Or it may be a very convincing wax replica. Not exactly sure since he doesn't make a single movement in the five seconds the camera centres on him. Not even a blink.64th minute
The World Cup is over for Miroslav Klose. He's been replaced by Oliver Neuville. What a great tournament for Klose. The Werder Bremen striker leads the tournament with five goals and is still in position to win the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer.61st minute
The floodgates are open. OWN GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL! Germany 2 Portugal 0. Portugal's Armando Petit mistakenly redirects a Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick past Ricardo for an own goal to give the Germans a two-goal edge. This game has really come to life.56th minute
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL! Germany 1 Portugal 0.Bastian Schweinsteiger (one of the best names in soccer) opens the scoring with a thrilling one-man effort. His strike from inside the penalty area curves into the Portuguese net just through the hands of a sprawling Ricardo.The crowd has come to life. Hopefully the game does as well.
53rd minute
A reminder to have your say on this match at Your View. What do you think of the proceedings thus far?50th minute
A Portuguese substitution to make note of. Armando Petit is on in place of Costinha.46th minute
We're back on.Halftime
Portugal is fortunate not to be behind in this one. Germany missed a handful of glorious scoring chances on set pieces from dangerous positions. This game badly needs a goal to spice things up.Halftime
Still no score at the break. Excuse me. I need to get my daily fix of Jose and his fantasy all-star team. What a great commercial, but wow, I'll be glad when a fresh serving of spots hit the airwaves en masse.39th minute
The camera shows substitute Luis Figo watching from the bench. Will the Portuguese captain get into this one?34th minute
Gotta get me one of those yellow cards. The refs make it look like such fun to get in someone's face and flash the little symbol of infraction. Speaking of cards, Costinha gets yet another yellow card for Portugal for another sloppy play around the penalty area. And again Germany can't convert.30th minute
The Germans have earned three straight free kicks all from dangerous positions just outside the penalty area. Germany hasn't made Portugal pay just yet, but if this continues, you get the sense it's only a matter of time before they open the scoring.24th minute
Ricardo Costa is fortunate not to be sent off. The FC Porto defender tugs on a clean-breaking Miroslov Klose just outside of the penalty area. Klose would've been in the clear if Costa didn't impede him. There's an anxious moment while the ref reaches into his pocket for a card - but it's yellow, not red.Lukas Podolski, the tournament's top young player, can't convert on the free kick.
21st minute
Portuguese keeper Ricardo returns the favour by flicking a threatening shot from Sebastian Kehl over the net. The Germans are starting to turn up the heat.15th minute
Maybe I spoke too soon. Oliver Kahn stops a streaking Pauleta at close range to keep the game scoreless. Kahn still has the goods.14th minute
Not the most scintillating start to the match, but at least both of these teams look like they care about the final outcome.7th minute
Torsten Frings commits the first bookable infraction of the match and is shown a yellow card. The German midfielder has a few choice words with the ref over the decision.4th minute
The Germans get the first quality scoring chance off a free kick, but the shot is deflected just wide of the Portuguese goal.1st minute
Here we go! Another game started at 3 p.m. ET right on the nose. Talk about efficiency from FIFA and the hosts.2 minutes to kickoff
There's an electric atmosphere in Stuttgart. Make no mistake about it - the German fans want this one.5 minutes to kickoff
Both teams are sporting their traditional jersey colours for this one. Portugal is wearing maroon, while the German side is in white.7 minutes to kickoff
We could be in for a thriller. Anyone remember last year's third-place game? It was a wild one. Turkey downed the co-host South Koreans 3-2 in a wide-open contest. Of note - Hakan Sukur scored the fastest goal in World Cup history when he converted just 11 seconds after opening kickoff. We should be so lucky to get that kind of action today.12 minutes to kickoff
Don't forget to have your say about today's match at Your View. Have your say on anything and everything about this third-place showdown. That said, let's try to keep the country bashing to a minimum, please.12 minutes to kickoff
Don't forget to have your say about today's match at Your View. Have your say on anything and everything about this third-place showdown. That said, let's try to keep the country bashing to a minimum, please.20 minutes to kickoff
Wow. Word is Portuguese captain Luis Figo is out of the starting lineup. That's a surprise. This could be the last game in which Figo sports the Portuguese maroon. The star midfielder is widely expected to announce his retirement from international soccer after the tournament.30 minutes to kickoff
There are a few changes today for Germany. The biggest difference comes in goal, where veteran Oliver Kahn will make his tournament debut. The most valuable player of the 2002 World Cup has been relegeted to backup status thus far. But coach Juergen Klinsmann felt Kahn should get the start in favour of No. 1 netminder Jens Lehmann. A classy gesture by Klinsmann.Germany will also be without captain Michael Ballack. The star midfielder is sidelined with an inflamed left knee. Defenders Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich are also out with injuries.