Berlin, Oct 17 (IANS) Sweden neutralised a 4-0 lead by Germany within 30 minutes to flabbergast the hosts at the Olympia Stadium here in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers.
Germany staged a faultless performance over 60 minutes to score four goals, but the Swedish comeback destroyed all hopes of a victory Tuesday at the last qualifier of 2012, reports Xinhua.
The hosts started furiously into the match as Germany's top scorer Miroslav Klose opened the scoring with eight minutes into the match. Klose netted a diagonal pass by Marco Reus to slot home into the roof of the net.
Germany added a second goal to the lead as Klose and Reus finished a terrific build up seven minutes later. Marco Reus again had set up for Klose with two consecutive one-two combinations.
Sweden were unable to hold the pace with fleet-footed Germans who lurked for more goals. Six minutes before break, Per Mertesacker tripled the lead for Germany when he utilised a header by Thomas Mueller to volley home from seven metres.
After the break, Germany started where they left off as Mesut Oezil marked the fourth goal of the evening.
It looked like a comfortable win for the Germans but it turned out to be otherwise.
Sweden's star Zlatan Ibrahimovic introduced the goal spree when his header found the back of the net against the run of the game in the 62nd minute. Two minutes later Mikael Lustig reduced Germany's lead to 4-2 following a nutmeg against Manuel Neuer.
The Germans remained absolutely stunned and Sweden's Johan Elmander slotted home into far corner to reduce Germany further 4-3 on the scoreboards in the 76th minute.
It became even worse for the Germans as Sweden's Rasmus Elm snatched the 4-4 equaliser three minutes into injury time.
"I cannot understand how we shared points today. We staged terrific and dominant football over 60 minutes. That will take some explaining how we could gave away a four-goal lead. We are really disappointed," Germany coach Joachim Loew said after the match.
Nonetheless, Germany stays on top of the standings with 10 points in Group C, followed by Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Kazakhstan and Faroe Islands.
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