Ballack's booking sees him miss the final now (Allsport)

By James Dart, Sportinglife.com

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Nine months on from that fateful night in Munich, Rudi Voller's reborn Germany completed their remarkable turnaround from World Cup disasters to World Cup finalists.

Amidst a sea of red around the Seoul World Cup Stadium, it was the classic German colours of white and black that navigated the choppy waters the better.

Last September, decked in their green kit, Voller's team suffered one of the greatest humiliations in the country's history as they were hammered 5-1 by a rampant England side.

Franz Beckenbauer labelled them the worst German side ever after that defeat and Voller's job was only really saved by a two-leg play-off victory over Ukraine that earnt them a spot in the finals.

But on Tuesday, the so-called worst team in German history booked their place in the World Cup final with a hard-fought 1-0 win over South Korea.

The co-hosts had previously dumped Portugal, Italy and Spain out of the finals, although they had been helped by some controversial decisions in their favour.

However, the 65,000 fans packed inside the ground and the estimated seven million supporters on the streets watching the game on big screens could not spur the 150/1 pre-tournament outsiders on, and they eventually succumbed to Michael Ballack's goal with 15 minutes remaining.

It was the end of a rollercoaster couple of minutes for Ballack, who had collected a yellow card moments earlier, one that rules him out of the final through suspension.

He is bound for Bayern Munich next season and such a display of mental toughness is sure to endear him to his new fans.

However, it is a massive blow for Germany that the only player to have provided any real attacking impetus in the knockout stages for them, will not be present when they face their biggest test.

Yet even Ballack has been unable to paper over the cracks in a side that started showing serious weakness against England in Munich, and have continued to be displayed throughout the finals.

They may well have opened the finals with an 8-0 victory over the inept Saudis, but subsequently, their performances have descended to lower and lower standards.

A draw against the Republic of Ireland was scant reward for Mick McCarthy's side, even though they equalised in the 90th minute.

And then a 2-0 win over Cameroon with ten men merely highlighted the inability of the African side in front of goal.

Paraguay met them in the second round and it took an Oliver Neuville goal to settle one of the worst matches of the tournament, in which Germany again looked very poor.

Fortunate progress continued in the quarter-finals where the USA failed to take their chances, before Ballack scored the only goal of the game.

Even a blatant handball on the line wasn't spotted in the second half of this game as Germany rolled on to the semis.

And again today they were left to thank Ballack for his goal that booked their spot in Sunday's final at Yokohama.

It is a shame in a way that a tournament that has produced such exciting and entertaining football, has also seen a team reach the final without doing either (barring Saudi Arabia) along with a measure of fortune.

I'll probably be branded bitter as an Englishman, but I think it's fair to say that this German team is one of the worst to have ever reached a World Cup final.

Sure, their discipline and organisation has been solid, and they have been able to boast the best goalkeeper in the finals with Oliver Kahn, with a defence that has not conceded a goal in the knockout stages.

But they have produced some dour football at times and should they go on to claim outright glory, it will not be a team that will go down in the annals of history.

South Korea, meanwhile, have a team that has written themselves into the country's folklore, along with a coach in Guus Hiddink who has become a national hero.

Few could have predicted their progression to this stage of the finals, but thanks to some supreme fitness levels and a never-say-die attitude (and some dodgy calls), they reached the last four.

Yet, after all their success in making this stage of the finals, they will rue the fact that had they been at full fitness and performed at the top of their game, Germany were for the taking.

They simply ran out of ideas in Seoul, but can still be proud of their achievements so far.

As can the German side, and they will feel they have proved many critics wrong in reaching the final.

Not this critic though, I'm afraid.

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