updates with reaction

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday October 7, 2006

Rostock, Germany- Germany striker Lukas Podolski was sent off three minutes after half-time as Germany defeated Georgia 2-0 in a friendly international in Rostock Saturday. Podolski aimed a kick while on the ground at Zurab Khizanishvili and Austrian referee Gerald Lehner had no hesitation in showing the Bayern Munich striker the red card.

Khizanishvili joined Podolski in the dressing room 14 minutes later when he was shown a second yellow card for a tackle from behind on Mike Hanke.

Goals in each half from Bastian Schweinsteiger and captain Michael Ballack gave coach Joachim Loew his fourth successive victory since succeeding Juergen Klinsmann after the World Cup.

Ballack set Schweinsteiger up to strike a superb 30-metre goal into the top of the net in the 24th minute to put Germany in front.

The Bayern Munich player then returned the favour by providing the pass to Ballack who left-footed the second in the 67th minute in a spell of German pressure after both teams had been reduced to 10 men.

"It was an entertaining game and we made some mistakes but we had four players playing for the first time and a lot of young players in the side," said Loew.

"We played with a lot of heart but we will have to talk about some things with the team."

Loew said the red card for Podolski was "a logical consequence" of the kick on Khizanishvili.

"He is a young player but this is something we will have to talk about internally. It's the sort of thing that should not happen," Loew said.

Werder Bremen defender Clemens Fritz and Hamburg midfielder Piotr Trochowski were two new caps in an inexperienced-looking Germany team lacking several established players.

Aachen striker Jan Schlaudraff and Wolfsburg defender Alexander Madlung of Wolfsburg also earned first caps when they came on during the second half for Hanke and Manuel Friedrich respectively.

Hanke, who was in the side for Bremen's Miroslav Klose, had a lively game and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet, with Goergi Lomaia in goal twice superbly foiling the Wolfsburg striker.

Georgia could thank Lomaia for keeping his side in the match, but the visitors also came close to scoring in the first half after a hesitant start by the Germans. The visitors thought they had equalized just before half-time but Otar Martsvaladze was adjudged narrowly offside after he had netted from a free-kick.

Podolski's red card was his first in 36 matches for Germany. The striker had been tackled from behind by Khizanishvili near the centre circle and was on the ground when he stuck out his leg to kick the Blackburn Rovers defender right in front of the referee.

The incident was reminiscent of the kick David Beckham aimed at Argentina's Diego Simeone at the 1998 World Cup which led to the sending off of the England man.

However because the red card was in a friendly the 21-year-old striker will not be suspended for Germany's Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia in Bratislava on Wednesday.

Georgia's German coach Klaus Toppmoeller was satisfied with his side's performance in an important test for before a Euro 2008 qualifier against Italy on Wednesday.

"We showed we could play good football," he said. "We wanted to play offensively and stay compact and I think we succeeded. We created some good chances in the first half."

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency