Australian goalkeeper Mitch Langerak came off the bench in the 34th minute to play a leading role in Borussia Dortmund's 5-2 thrashing of arch-rivals Bayern Munich in the German Cup final in Berlin.
Langerak was summonsed after Dortmund number one Roman Weidenfeller twice clattered into Bayern striker Mario Gomez, the second incident coming in the 23rd minute and resulting in a penalty for the Bavarian side.
Dutch star Arjen Robben slotted home from the spot and with Weidenfeller no longer able to continue, former Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Langerak was called into action.
He was beaten by French international Franck Ribery midway through the second half but the goal made little difference as Dortmund added the German Cup title to the Bundesliga trophy it lifted last week.
It was Dortmund's fifth straight win over Bayern, who were at full strength ahead of the Champions League final against Chelsea next week, as Polish star Robert Lewandowski notched a hat-trick in the showpiece event.
Shinji Kagawa fired Dortmund into a third minute lead after a double defensive blunder by Luiz Gustavo, before Robben's spot-kick levelled proceedings in front of more than 75,000 fans at Berlin's famous Olympic stadium.
Mats Hummels' penalty in the 41st minute restored Dortmund's lead and its top scorer Lewandowski struck either side of the break and again after Bayern winger Ribery briefly cut the deficit with his sensational low drive in the 75th minute.
"We at Dortmund could not have imagined a better final," the club's beaming coach Juergen Klopp told reporters.
Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl lifted the trophy to mark his side's first German Cup triumph since 1989 as his team-mates cheered wildly while German president Joachim Gauck was sucked into the celebrations.
"We were ice cold in our execution, scored great goals. It's difficult to put into words what we're feeling at this moment," said Klopp after his first German Cup victory as a coach.
Dortmund, which has now won the Cup three times, also beat Bayern in the race for the league title, earning a record 81 points as it clinched its second successive Bundesliga crown earlier this month.
"We should not be complaining as our overall defensive behaviour was catastrophic," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said.
"We have to accept that we did not deserve to win. But now we have a different target in our sights and until the Champions League final we will recover from the shock."
"That will be a completely different game," Heynckes added.
It took Dortmund only three minutes to send its yellow-clad fans into a frenzy when Jakub Blaszczykowski pounced after Gustavo twice gave away possession and cut the ball back to Kagawa, who scored on what could be his last game for the club.
The hugely gifted 23-year-old Japan international, who said he would decide whether to move to the English Premier League after the final, tapped home from close range with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson watching from the stands.
Dortmund keeper Weidenfeller brought down Gomez in the 24th minute and Robben converted from the spot to make amends for his penalty miss in their league clash last month.
But any hopes of a confidence-boosting result ahead of the Champions League final in Munich were undermined when Bayern reject Hummels scored with a penalty in the 41st after defender Jerome Boateng brought down Marcel Schmelzer.
Lewandowski then struck in first half-stoppage time, picking up a Kagawa pass to beat goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The Poland forward, who notched 22 league goals this season, was again on target in the 58th minute as Dortmund ripped through an error-prone Bayern defence almost at will.
Ribery struck 15 minutes from time after Gomez earlier hit the bar but yet another Bayern mistake, with Neuer dropping the ball in the box, led to Lewandowski's third goal from an easy header for a memorable end to Dortmund's successful season.
ABC/Reuters
Tags: sport, soccer, germany First posted May 13, 2012 09:09:42