German football team brings back bronze from South Africa

Jul 12, 2010, 6:18 GMT

Frankfurt - Germany welcomed home its bronze medallist football team from the South African World Cup early Monday as its plane touched down at Frankfurt airport.

Germany beat Uruguay 3-2 Saturday to earn third place in the World Cup for the fourth time.

The final of the tournament was being played Saturday night as the German team flew home. The captain updated his passengers throughout the 10-hour flight on the progress of the game between Spain and the Netherlands, which Spain won 1-0.

German striker Thomas Mueller, 20, had another reason to celebrate as neither Spain's David Villa nor the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder scored, leaving Mueller as the tournament's top scorer and earning him the Golden Boot award.

Mueller scored five goals in this year's World Cup on par with the totals scored by Villa and Sneijder, but he also assisted three others, putting him ahead of his finalist rivals.

The Golden Ball award for best player went to Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan, and the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper was awarded to Spaniard Kier Casillas.