Live from Germany

Germany continue the momentum as Poles are axed

Germany moved to the brink of second round qualification while Poland are now fighting for thier lives after Oliver Neuville hammered home a 91st minute winner to hand the host nation a 1-0 win and send their fans into hysterics.

In a fiercely contested tie in Dortmund, a dubious red card shown to Poland's Radoslaw Sobelewski on 75 minutes swung the advantage to Germany and their relentless pressure finally paid off with Neuville's sliding shot into the net with seconds on the clock.

Germany need at worst a point from their last match against Ecuador while Poland must hope Costa Rica beat Ecuador on Thursday and then beat the Ticos in their last match to have any chance of advancing. They also need Germany to beat Ecuador meaning second spot would come down to goal difference.

There was an explosion of joy around Germany when Neuville's shot hit the back of the net and keeps the fever building in what has been a highly successful tournament to date.

"I am not a hero - we should have scored more. I missed a great chance ten minutes earlier," said Neuville of an effort which hit the bar.

"Thank God it worked out as I got an important goal a minute before the end."

Earlier, in an all Arab clash in Munich, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia battled to a 2-2 draw in a full-blooded see-saw thriller on Wednesday, while earlier in the group Spain struck gold with a 4-0 drubbing of the Ukraine.

Starring in his fourth World Cup Saudi Arabian supersub Sami Al Jaber scored what he thought would be the come from behind winner for the 'Sons of the Desert' in the 84th minute less than two minutes after coming on.

His teammate and the man he replaced Al Hilal striker Yaser Al Kahtani's finish was even sharper as he raced ahead of two defenders to clip home the equaliser just before the hour.

While earlier Ziad Jaziri executed a flying scissor kick with some style to put Tunisia in front after 23 minutes, albeit with a big question mark over the Saudi marking.

But just when the Saudis thought they had it in the bag a towering header from Rahdi Jaidi drew the scores level again deep into injury time.

Spanish gold

Spain laid waste to Ukraine's aspirations of winning Group H on Wednesday when they dealt them a punishing 4-0 defeat.

By the time the referee sent off the Ukraine's Vladislav Vashchuk for supposedly hauling down Fernando Torres the Iberians were already 2-0 up, so when David Villa drilled home the ensuing penalty after just 48 minutes Ukraine were dead and buried.

Their hopes had been high at kick-off as Spain captain Raul failed to appear with Valencia striker Villa on instead while conversely Ukraine's star striker Andriy Shevchenko had shaken off a knee injury and was unexpectedly in the starting 11.

But Spain tore into Ukraine from the start and when Xabi Alonso headed home on 13 minutes it was just reward. A deflected Villa free-kick four minutes later doubled the tally and an impressive Fernando Torres strike on 81 rounded off the thrashing.

On Thursday, England take on Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden need a win against Paraguay and Ecuador can book their ticket to the next round with a win over Costa Rica.