Germany won through to the World Cup 2002 final but goal scorer Michael Ballack will miss the Yokohama showpiece.

The European side are now in a record seventh World Cup final and Brazil can match that mark if they defeat Turkey tomorrow in the second semi final to contest the trophy in five days.

The winner came in the 75th minute as the co-host's luck ran out.

After a reflex save to deny Michael Ballack’s right foot drive as he ran in to meet an Oliver Neuville cross from the right when the striker had managed to get in his cross under pressure from two players, goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae saw his save land at the feet of Ballack again and the new Bayern Munich signing finished off by striking the ball on target with his left foot.

Four minutes before Ballack had earned his second booking of the knockout phase by cynically ending a Korean attack as Lee Chun-soo ran from his own half to advance towards the German penalty area for Ballack to bring him down from behind. Swiss referee Urs Meier was right to punish Ballack who responded professionally by sticking to his task on the night of trying to avoid the close attention of Yoo Sang-chul who had marked him out of most of the semi final.

Marco Bode tested Lee with a long range drive from a free kick in the 79th minute with top scorer Miroslav Klose replaced before the goal by veteran Oliver Bierhoff.

Neuville was booked in the 86th minute for diving and the accreditation of an earlier booking in the second round to midfielder Jens Jeremies rather than the Swiss-born forward means he will be available for the final.

Park Ji-sung screwed an injury time chance high and wide from the edge of the penalty area but Germany never looked like conceding a goal in this game and have only conceded one goal all tournament.

A game of few chances saw Korea lock up the German midfield and restrict their chances in the air from corners and free kicks.

The home side had started well with Lee Chun-soo forcing Oliver Kahn to dive and save an angled shot in the 8th minute and Neuville hit a volley straight at lee in the 17th minute but the game was dominated by competent defending.

Choi Jin-chul was exceptional in the heart of the Korean back line but his loss with an injury in the 56th minute perhaps unbalanced the defence but they scarcely offered a chance to the Germans.

A build-up to the game dominated by claims and counter-claims regarding the refereeing favours done to Korea in their last two matches bore no relation to the medium-paced action of the Seoul semi final.

The World Cup has reverted to type after several strange matches – possible German or Brazilian domination.

One real chance and one goal to win the game was the only story this semi final told.

Michael Ballack is exhausted after a crowded season and nursing a sore foot but only if he lives up to expectations on the big stage can Germany offer a decent World Cup 2002 show.

The knee injury that has ruled fellow inspirational midfielder Sebastian Deisler out of this month's finals in South Korea and Japan leaves the Bayer Leverkusen player carrying most of the triple world champions' hopes.

With Bayern Munich's Mehmet Scholl also absent after judging that he was not fit enough, Ballack is the only world class player left at the heart of the Germany team.

The elegant 25-year-old has made his big breakthrough this season, playing a key role in Germany's victory over Ukraine in last November's playoffs and in Leverkusen's run to the Champions League final.

But a hectic scheduled has taken its toll and Ballack, who will play for Bayern Munich next season, has looked only the shadow of his brilliant self in his recent outings, mostly because of a bruised foot.

The withdrawal of Deisler, who had only recently returned from a lengthy layoff when he hurt his troublesome right knee again in Saturday's 6-2 thrashing of Austria, was the worst thing that could happen to Germany coach Rudi Voeller.

'At first we had a glimmer of hope but now the most important thing to think about is the health of Sebastian rather than the World Cup,' said Voeller, whose team fly out to their base in Japan on Wednesday.

Voeller, who had to hand over his official 23-man squad to FIFA on Tuesday, was expected to replace Deisler with Borussia Dortmund's Lars Ricken.

Stefan Beinlich and Joerg Boehme, both also on standby, could step in as well but neither of the three candidates has Deisler's aura nor his creative skills.