Germany beat Scotland 2-1 to regain the lead in Group 5 of qualifying for Euro 2004 in a match that Scotland finished with 10 men Wednesday.
Fredi Bobic scored after 25 minutes for Germany and Michael Ballack converted a penalty in the 50th.
Neil McCann pulled one back for Scotland on the hour, but Maurice Ross was sent off after 66 minutes and Germany dominated the remainder of the game, except for the last couple of minutes when Scotland threatened several times.
PHOTO: AFP
Germany, the World Cup runner-up, now leads the group with 15 points, ahead of Iceland, which has 13. The two teams play Oct. 11 in the final round of qualifying. The winner of the match will gain direct qualification, while a draw would put Germany through. Germany is assured of finishing at least second in the group and reaching the playoffs.
Scotland, which remained on 11 points, plays Lithuania the same day. Lithuania beat the Faeroe Islands 3-1 in another group match Wednesday and now has 10 points. Scotland must beat Lithuania and hope for a German victory to reach the November playoffs.
The match began in pouring rain before a capacity crowd of 66,000 at Westfalen stadium but the rain let up later in the match.
Germany, which has never lost in 12 games in Dortmund, took nine minutes to create the first opportunity. Goalkeeper Robert Douglas mistimed his clearance of a Bernd Schneider corner but Michael Ballack fired over the goal.
German coach Rudi Voeller changed his starting lineup from the 0-0 draw at Iceland four days ago and the new pair of strikers Kevin Kuranyi and Bobic combined for the German lead after 25 minutes. Douglas first made a good one-handed save to stop a long-range drive by Arne Friedrich, but could not control the ball. Kuranyi slipped the ball back onto Bobic's path, who slid and tipped it into the net. After 34 minutes, Douglas denied Bobic by turning away his header. Five minutes into the second half, Bobic earned a penalty when he was pushed by Steven Pressley and Ballack converted the penalty for a two-goal German lead.
Scotland used a German loss of possession in midfield to cut the deficit in the 60th, with Steven Thompson providing the pass for McCann to tap home.
Five minutes later, Schneider's through pass allowed Kuranyi to break free of the Scotland defense but the young Stuttgart striker tried to round Douglas and then shot meekly wide.
Ross, who had come at the start of second half for Paul Lambert, received his second yellow card in 20 minutes for a second rough tackle of Tobias Rau and was sent off by Swedish referee Anders Frisk.
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