Slovakia v Germany
Slovakia (0) v Germany (0)
If raucous support wins you matches, then Germany should go far. Their noisy fanbase - complete with washboard, drums and whistles - roared the team on a against a Slovakian side trying to make up for two losses on Wednesday. A 2-0 halftime lead was soon turned into 4-0 early in the second half as the crowd's enthusiasm gathered momentum and the Germans bounced back from an earlier defeat to Serbia.
David Gries bagged a couple of fine goals in the second half, helped out by the intimidating figure of Mario Ziegler - the towering No.3 with the German flag painted beneath each eye. Those goals seemed to inspire the Slovakians to battle harder and they soon reduced the deficit with two quick goals and saw another strike bounce back off the post. But the teutonic drums beat out an unstoppable rhythm and the fightback came too late to stop an ecstatic mutual celebration between the victors and their musical fans.
Joel Dimmock