
A goal two minutes from time by Oliver Neuville gave triple champions Germany a 1-0 win over Paraguay and a place in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
The dull match, the first of the second round, was drifting towards extra time when the striker, starting his first game at the finals, latched on to a cross by Bernd Schneider and struck home a first-time shot from six metres.
| Germany’s Oliver Neuville celebrates after scoring. Reuters |
Paraguay midfielder Roberto Acuna was sent off in the dying seconds after striking Germany’s playmaker Michael Ballack in an off-the-ball incident.
The South American team were knocked out of the 1998 World Cup with the first and only golden goal scored at a finals, by Laurent Blanc for France who were the eventual champions. The Germans go on to meet either Mexico or the United States, but Voeller said he had no preference regarding their opponents.
Germany have reached the last eight of the World Cup a record 14 out of 15 times in the last 50 years — the exception was 1978 — while Paraguay have never advanced beyond the second round. (Reuters)




