Germany 2-1 Serbia
Michael Ballack scored the winning goal as Germany came from behind in Gelsenkirchen to beat Serbia in their final friendly before UEFA EURO 2008™.
Poland next
The Chelsea FC midfielder decided the contest in the 82nd minute, firing a free-kick low into the Serbia net to complete the fightback after Oliver Neuville (74) had cancelled out Boško Janković's 18th-minute opener for the visitors. Germany are next in action on 8 June, when they tackle Poland in their EURO curtain-raiser in Klagenfurt.
Four changes
Coach Joachim Löw made four changes to the team that started Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Belarus as Marcell Jansen, Clemens Fritz, Mario Gómez and Kevin Kuranyi replaced Thomas Hitzlsperger, David Odonkor, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski. Consequently, Germany took a while to settle and found themselves behind when a neat one-two on the edge of the box caught the home defence cold and Janković made no mistake.
Jansen assists
Gómez, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Kuranyi all missed chances to equalise before the break, and Serbia were also guilty of profligate finishing soon after half-time when Janković shot against the crossbar from close range. That proved to be Serbia's last opportunity of note as Germany increased the tempo, a ploy resulting in Jansen teeing up Neuville for the leveller with 16 minutes to play. Jansen also won the free-kick from which Ballack scored to boost German morale before they make the short trip to Austria next week.
Germany: Lehmann, Lahm (Podolski 46), Mertesacker (Friedrich 46), Metzelder, Jansen (Westermann 84), Frings (Rolfes 70), Ballack, Fritz, Schweinsteiger (Odonkor 79), Gómez, Kuranyi (Neuville 70).
Serbia: Stojković, Rukavina, Ivanović, Vidić, Dragutinović, Babović, Kuzmanović, Smiljanić, Janković (Z Tošić 82), Pantelić (Lazović 46), Ilic (Milovanović 73).
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