Moenchengladbach, Germany - Piotr Trochowski kept Germany on course to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa with the only goal in a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Wales in a Group 4 game Wednesday in Moenchengladbach. Germany dominated throughout the match and had several good scoring opportunities but failed to score in the first half against a defensively strong Welsh side.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Trochowski and Lukas Podolski tried their luck with long-range efforts but failed to find the target in the opening 45 minutes.
SV Hamburg midfielder Trochowski finally broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute with a well-taken shot from just outside the area for his first international goal.
The Polish-born player received a ball on the edge of the area and played hide and seek with Welsh midfielder David Edwards, sending him diving in the wrong direction several times before unleashing a powerful shot that gave goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey no chance.
Just three minutes later, Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack nearly doubled the score for Germany with a fierce free-kick from 25 metres, but the German captain saw the ball smash against the upright and back into play.
The visitors nearly scored an undeserved equalizer nine minutes from time when Craig Bellamy managed to get away from Philip Lahm and found Chris Gunter standing in front of the German goal, but his shot slammed against defender Per Mertesacker.
The result sees Germany lead the group on 10 points from their four matches. Russia are second with six points from three matches, while Wales remain third with six points from their four games.
Only the group winner qualifies directly for the finals, while the best eight second-placed teams from the nine groups have to compete in a playoff to make it to South Africa.
