Dortmund, Sept 11: Germany beat Scotland 2-1 in their Euro 2004 qualifier. Germany healed their wounded pride by beating Scotland 2-1 on Wednesday (September 10) to move close to a spot in next year's European championship finals. Four days after an embarrassing 0-0 draw with Iceland in their previous qualifier, the three-times world and European champions put up a combative display in awful weather to knock the Icelanders off the top of Group Five. Striker Fredi Bobic gave the home side the lead from inside the box on 25 minutes, latching on to a back pass by fellow striker Kevin Kuranyi following a long-range effort from defender Arne Friedrich which Scotland goalkeeper Robert Douglas had failed to block. Germany kept the pressure on after the break and doubled their lead courtesy of Michael Ballack's penalty after Bobic was held in the area by Steven Pressley.

Scotland pulled one back against the run of play through midfielder Neil McCann on 60 minutes, who volleyed home a Steven Thompson cross. But Scotland were reduced to 10 men six minutes later when substitute defender Maurice Ross was sent off for a second bookable offence.

A partisan capacity crowd of 67,000 played their part, cheering their team with a deafening roar on a rainy, windy evening to make sure Germany remained undefeated in 10 games in Dortmund.


Germany, who lead the standings on 15 points from seven matches, need only a draw from their last group game at home to Iceland on October 11 to qualify directly for the finals in Portugal.



Iceland are second two points back, with Scotland two further points adrift in third. Scotland, coached by former Germany defender and coach Berti Vogts, are no longer capable of winning the group but remain in contention for a playoff place if they can beat Lithuania on October 11.


Germany's victory came as a relief for coach Rudi Voeller, who had lost his cool after Saturday's game in Iceland with a vitriolic attack on his media critics which has been front page news in the soccer-mad country ever since. Voeller, whose image as a quiet and cheerful character suffered from his expletive-filled outburst, had urged his men to play with passion and they obliged with a spirited performance.


Teams for Wednesday's Euro 2004 Group Five qualifier between Germany and Scotland at the Westfalen stadium: Germany - 1-Oliver Kahn; 2-Arne Friedrich, 6-Frank Baumann, 4-Christian Woerns; 10-Bernd Schneider, 3-Marko Rehmer, 5-Carsten Ramelow, 15-Tobias Rau, 13-Michael Ballack; 9-Fredi Bobic, 17-Kevin Kuranyi.


Scotland: 1-Robert Douglas; 2-Jackie McNamara, 3-Gary Naysmith, 7-James McFadden, 5-Steven Pressley; 11-Neil McCann, 4-Christian Dailly, 14-Paul Lambert, 6-Barry Ferguson, 8-Colin Cameron; 9-Steven Thompson. Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden).


Bureau Report