The United States, the heavy underdogs going into the match, caught Germany by surprise in the early going with some solid passing and aggressive offense, culminating in a few good scoring chances. But German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn came up big a couple of times to keep his team in the game.

Germany's forte all tournament has been their cool attitude and precision passing, which came into play for their first goal. After weathering the early storm, the Germans had a free kick, which was placed perfectly on the head of Michael Ballack, who promptly put it in for what turned out to be the winning goal.

The United States, who were lauded for their excellent play throughout the match, almost tied it on a volley by Gregg Berhalter, but the ball did not cross the goal line. The Americans argued that it was a handball and should count as a goal, but to no avail.

Germany next takes on the winner of the South Korea-Spain match on Saturday. (Glen Choi, glen@chosun.com )