ULSON, South Korea, June 21 (UPI) -- A header by Michael Ballack in the 39th minute and spectacular goalkeeping by Olivier Kahn allowed Germany to escape with a 1-0 victory over the United States in the World Cup quarterfinals Friday night, ending the Americans best showing ever on soccer's biggest stage.
Although the United States surprised Germany by dominating play for much of the evening, Kahn kept the game tied until Ballack managed to score.
The Americans' biggest concern going into the game was giving up corner kicks and free kicks near the penalty box, where the Germans could use their big bodies to get into the air. And that is how the lone goal of the game was scored.
Off a free kick, a wave of would-be German scorers headed for the goalmouth and the 6-foot-3 Ballack rose above American defender Anthony Sanneh to head the ball at the feet of goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
Friedel got a piece of it, but could not stop it from bounding into the net. It was the 13th goal of the World Cup for Germany, eight of them scored in one game against Saudi Arabia, and the Germans have surrendered only one.
"We were worried about their set pieces," Friedel said. "They put a great ball through. My hat goes off to them."
Germany will play in the World Cup semifinals for the 10th time next Tuesday in Seoul against the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal game between Spain and South Korea. Germany will be the decided favorite in that one and is on a collision course with Brazil for a potentially classic World Cup final.
Although the Americans played some of their best soccer of the tournament, especially in the opening minutes of the contest, they could not penetrate the tight German defense.
Friedel, however, said the Americans demonstrated to major soccer playing nations that the United States is drawing closer.
"We lost to Germany by one goal in the quarterfinals of the World Cup," he said. "And I think we did outplay them. But that is why they are so good. They can play games like this and win.
"We have had a great ride. The satisfying thing is that we never once got played off the field here. We can go home with a good feeling, but knowing we could have gone further."
The United States peppered the German goal early in the match with Donovan coming close in the 17th minute. Donovan stepped past Christian Ziege on the right side and fired toward the left post -- a ball that would have found the net had not Kahn sprawled to his right and knocked it away.
Kahn saved another Donovan shot in the 30th minute and the German goalkeeper had to knock another shot away in the 36th.
Through 38 minutes, the United States had five shots on goal to one for Germany, but the Germans' second shot found the back of the net.
Four minutes after Ballack's goal, Germany barely missed on what turned out to be its best chance for the remainder of the game. Miroslav Klose, who leads the World Cup with five goals, beat Eddie Lewis in the air and beat Friedel to the right side only to have the ball bounce off the post.
The Americans finally did beat Kahn five minutes deep in the second half, but suffered a bad break. A shot from in close by Gregg Berhalter got under the right arm of Kahn and seemed to be heading into the net. But it struck the right hand of Torsten Frings as he stood at the left post and the ball then bounced along the goal line before Kahn scrambled back to cover it.
United States players argued that the ball crossed the line, which replays showed it did not, and that a hand ball should have been called on Frings, which would have brought about a penalty kick.
But replays also showed that Frings did not move his hand to intentionally bat the ball. Scottish referee Hugh Dallas, one of the most respected in the sport, immediately signaled that no goal had been scored and that no penalty would be granted.
Kahn had to make saves in the 52nd minute on John O'Brien and in the 55th minute on Donovan, but almost found himself out of position in the 64th minute when Claudio Reyna surprised everyone on the field by launching a long, looping shot from just inside the midfield line. Kahn went scrambling back to his line and was happy to see the ball drift wide to the left.
And in the 89th minute, with Germany having long since packed the penalty box in an all-out defensive mode, Sanneh leaped high to get his head on the ball and, with Kahn unable to get there, it sailed no more than a foot outside the left corner.
Reyna symbolized the United States effort, playing a huge game in midfield. He got the best of his personal matchup with Dietmar Hamann and was instrumental in many of the passes that gave his team excellent scoring chances.
And when, a time was running out and the outcome all but decided, he still managed enough energy to sprint back on defense and twice take the ball away from counterattacking Germans who were bearing down on Friedel.
