Germany 3rd at World Cup after seesaw match

Sami Khedira scored with a header in the 82nd minute to give Germany a 3-2 victory over Uruguay in the FIFA World Cup third-place match Saturday.

"We had hoped for more, and we did everything for it," Khedira said. "This was some kind of final and we did everything for it. We have a young team and set an exclamation mark here and can reach more."
Thomas Mueller had put Germany up 1-0 at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and teammate Marcell Jansen's goal tied the match at 2-2 after Uruguay had gone ahead.

Germany finished with 16 goals in seven tournament games, and Germany coach Joachim Loew, his voice still hoarse from the flu, said his team was going home "with a very good feeling."
Uruguay got goals from Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan in a match played amid a downpour. Forlan hit the crossbar with a free kick blast on the final play of the match, in stoppage time.

"Obviously it's something spectacular to be among the top four," said Forlan. "If someone would've asked us at the beginning, we would've liked it. It's something positive."
Forlan and Mueller each finished with five goals, tying them for the World Cup lead with two players who will compete in Sunday's final, David Villa of Spain and Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands.
Germany has now finished in the World Cup top three on 11 occasions. Uruguay hasn't finished in the top three since its 1950 championship, placing fourth for a third time.

Miroslav Klose's aching back prevented him from playing for Germany. Klose is left one shy of Ronaldo's World Cup record 15 goals. Klose's replacement was Cacau.

As often happens in third-place matches at the tournament, offensive chances were plentiful.
Arne Freidrich headed a cross off the bar early in the first half for Germany, which would score just a few minutes later.
Bastian Schweinsteiger drilled a shot that Fernando Muslera saved, but the goalie was then at the mercy of Mueller, who was all alone to put the rebound into the net in the 19th minute.
Mueller had missed the semifinal loss to Spain due to a suspension.

Schweinsteiger was culpable on Uruguay's first goal nine minutes later, stripped of the ball by Diego Perez. The turnover set up a chance for Cavani down the left side, and he made no mistake with his low shot on veteran 36-year-old goalkeeper Joerg Butt, who made his first World Cup start in place of Manuel Neuer.