KATC - Always On

Posted: Nov 18, 2009 3:47 PM
Updated: Nov 18, 2009 4:10 PM

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) Lukas Podolski scored his second goal of the match in injury time for Germany to draw 2-2 with Ivory Coast in the first game since the death of its goalkeeper Robert Enke.

Podolski converted a penalty in the 11th to put Germany ahead, while Emmanuel Eboue tied the game with a strange goal in the 57th.

Seydou Doumbia came off the bench in the 83rd and scored two minutes later to give Ivory Coast a 2-1 lead, only to see Podolski score two minutes into injury time in the half-empty Schalke stadium.

Before the game, both World Cup-bound teams paid respect to Enke, who killed himself last week after battling depression for years.

Germany captain Michael Ballack, who could not play because of a knee injury, placed a No. 1 jersey with Enke's name on the bench of Germany's team.

There was a minute of silence and both teams played with black armbands, while a film featuring highlights from Enke's life was shown on the stadium's video screen before the kickoff, accompanied by the song "You'll never walk alone.".

During the presentation, Ivory Coast players wore T-shirts with the picture of Enke.

Earlier, the German players issued an open letter, saying they were "playing for Germany, for the fans but above all for you. For a good friend whose death brought us a little bit closer together."

"It's not easy to lace up the football shoes tonight and run onto the field and do for 90 minutes what you liked so much. Your death is still everywhere for us."

Enke threw himself before a train eight days ago after suffering for years from depression. He had not been selected for the game Wednesday because of a recent illness.

"It was difficult to play after this turbulent week but we played well and had good chances," Germany's stand-in captain Philipp Lahm said.

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba, Ballack's teammate at Chelsea, also missed the game because of a rib injury and Germany got the first goal early.

Stefan Kiessling earned a penalty when he was brought down by Guy Demel and Podolski converted from the spot.

Only minutes later, Eboue chipped the ball over Tim Wiese, but hit the crossbar, before Arthur Boka cleared a header from Heiko Westermann off the line.

Piotr Trochowski hit the post late in the first half and Kiessling had a good effort parried by goalkeeper Aristides Zogbo in the 53rd.

Eboue scored a bizarre goal that left him gasping for air in pain.

Westermann, under pressure from Eboue, played the ball back to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, whose attempt to clear it hit Eboue in the abdomen and bounced into the net. Neuer replaced Wiese at halftime.

Doumbia scored with a good shot from the edge of the box, after a pass from Gervinho, another Ivory Coast substitute.

Podolski salvaged the draw when he collected a pass from Westermann and drove the ball past Aristides Zogbo.

"It wasn't easy to play but we tried hard and we wanted to win," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "We had some very good chances in the first half but we allowed some counterattacks in the second."

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Lineups:

Germany_Tim Wiese (Manuel Neuer, 45); Jerome Boateng (Andreas Beck, 65), Per Mertesacker, Heiko Westermann, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Aaron Hunt, 80), Thomas Hitzlsperger, Piotr Trochowski (Marcel Schaefer, 86), Mesut Oezil, Lukas Podolski, Stefan Kiessling (Mario Gomez, 69).

Ivory Coast_Aristides Zogbo; Emmanuel Eboue, Guy Demel (Kader Keita, 72) Kolo Toure, Arthur Boka, Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora (Koumatien Kone, 49), Souleymane Bamba, Ismael Tiote (Benjamin Angoua Brou, 86), Sekou Cisse (Gervinho, 67), Salomon Kalou (Seydou Doumbia, 83).