Published November 20, 2014
PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa -- Milan Jovanovic scored one minute after Germany striker Miroslav Klose was sent off Friday, giving Serbia a 1-0 win over the three-time World Cup champions in Group D.
Jovanovic side-footed a shot past Germany goalkeeper Manual Neuer in the 38th minute to leave both teams with three points in the group.
The win was Serbia's first in the World Cup as an independent nation.
Lukas Podolski had a chance to equalize in the 60th, but he missed a penalty, sending a weak shot to the left of Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, who read it and stopped it.
Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic gave away the penalty in the 59th with a handball, the same needless move that cost Serbia the match against Ghana, when Zdravko Kuzmanovic did the same and Ghana scored for a 1-0 win.
The last time Germany missed a non-shootout penalty at a World Cup was in 1974, a miss by Uli Hoeness against Poland.
Stojkovic, often considered the weak link the Serbia's team, grabbed the game ball after the match and stuck it under his jersey.
Klose was sent off after a rough tackle in the 37th earned him a second yellow card. He received his first yellow in the 12th.
Spanish referee Alberto Undiano handed out nine yellow cards, the most so far in any game at this year's tournament.
With Germany on the attack, Serbia nearly scored another when Jovanovic hit the post late in the match.
Both teams used lone strikers, turning the match into a physical, often bruising contest in midfield, with Serbia allowing Germany little space for the kind of flowing, quick-passing moves it enjoyed against Australia in a 4-0 rout.
The Germans did come close when Podolski's left-foot effort in the seventh minute went wide of the post. And Milos Ninkovic shot wide and high of Germany's goal in the 12th.
After Germany captain Philipp Lahm earned the fifth yellow card of the match, Serbia defender Aleksandar Kolarov curled the free kick past the German wall but wide of the upper corner.
Sami Khedira hit Serbia's crossbar in a hectic finish to the first half and Thomas Mueller's follow-up overhead effort was cleared off the line by Kolarov.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/serbia-beats-germany-1-0-at-world-cup-after-podolski-misses-penalty