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Socceroos stun Germany

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-31 07:57

Australia captain Lucas Neill said the Socceroos' shock 2-1 maiden victory over host Germany was the perfect response to last year's World Cup defeat.

Two goals in two stunning second-half minutes by Blackpool midfielder David Carney and a penalty from Dynamo Moscow's Luke Wilkshire floored the Germans after Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez had earlier put the host ahead.

This was Australia's first win over Germany after three straight defeats, the last of which came in Durban last June when the Germans hammered the Socceroos 4-0 in their opening game of the South African World Cup.

Galatasary defender Neill, who led the Socceroos on both occasions, said the win helped make up for the disappointment in Durban and losing the Asian Cup final to Japan in January.

"It's just a great response, like we always seem to do, we learn from our mistakes and make sure we don't do it again," the 33-year-old said. "As well as losing the Asian Cup final, it has been a great education to bounce back.

"We put those bad performances behind us and come back with a really good win.

"This is great for the future of the game in our country: by knocking off big teams, we keep surprising ourselves with good performances and give the young lads an amazing platform to build on.

"This will make us stronger.

"The momentum is with us and it is important to keep getting results like this. We'd have taken this result in the World Cup, but we live and learn and we'll be a better team for it and that is important for the country."

Neill said he was surprised by his side's poor first-half performance.

"I was a bit surprised in the first-half, we didn't show the hunger and belief we usually show as the underdog," he said.

"We made a few adjustments during the halftime break and they paid off.

"We kept giving the ball away in the first half, we adjusted and created those two chances.

"Once we got our noses in front, we made it hard for them.

"It's a huge win, we have come away with an historic and amazing victory."

AFP

(China Daily 03/31/2011 page24)