After receiving congratulatory smacks and pats from his jubilant teammates, goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic walked off the pitch at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium looking somewhat paunchy.
With the game ball protruding from underneath his jersey Friday, there was no question who saved Serbia in its 1-0 win over Germany in a Group D match at the World Cup.
Stojkovic stopped a 60th-minute penalty from Lukas Podolski.
Stojkovic, who was on loan to English Premier League side Wigan from Sporting Lisbon, didn't want to take credit for the win, saying Serbia's first victory over Germany since 1962 - when part of the former Yugoslavia - was a team effort.
``After 37 years, to win against Germany at the World Cup is quite something,'' he said. ``We deserved it as a group. We worked so hard over the past two years, I think this is the final result of what we achieved.''
And Stojkovic did something no other goalkeeper has done in 36 years - stop a German player scoring with a spot kick, not including penalty shootouts. The last German not to score from a penalty in regulation time was Uli Hoeness in 1974 against Poland.
Serbia defender Nemanja Vidic gave away the penalty by handling the ball, the same move that cost his team the match against Ghana. Then, Zdravko Kuzmanovic did the same and Ghana scored - against Stojkovic - for a 1-0 win.
Serbia coach Radomir Antic said Stojkovic's save was crucial.
``If we had conceded a goal on the penalty, it would have had even greater repercussions,'' Antic said. ``But instead we were strong, even though our player (Vidic) made an obvious mistake.''
Germany coach Joachim Loew said he chose Podolski because he's strong from the penalty spot. But not Friday.
``Usually, he really hammers the penalty home,'' Loew said. ``He didn't do it today and it was easy for the goalkeeper to parry it away.''
Podolski agreed.
``It was my fault. I missed,'' Podolski said. ``I accept responsibility and I don't want to dwell on it.''
Regardless, Stojkovic was the star - the first player his team rushed to at the end of the match.
``This is a great victory for all of us,'' Stojkovic said. ``We have showed we are a good team and we believe in ourselves.''
