Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jul 1 (EFE).- Heavily favored Germany needed overtime here Monday to beat Algeria 2-1 and secure a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. <br /><br /> <br /><br />The North African squad's Bosnian coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, left some of his best offensive players out of the lineup in favor of bolstering the defense. <br /><br /> <br /><br />The tactic paid off, shutting down the powerful German offense and creating some chances for Algeria on the counter-attack. <br /><br /> <br /><br />The Algerians deserved to be leading after the first half, but were unable to finish, and their heroic efforts left them depleted in the face of a frenetic German onslaught in the opening minutes of the second period. <br /><br /> <br /><br />Yet the African squad withstood the charge and regained their first-half form to hold the Germans and force the contest into overtime. <br /><br /> <br /><br />Andre Schürrle scored for Germany just three minutes into the first of the two 15-minute overtime periods and Mesut Özil added what turned out to be a vital insurance goal in the 120th
