Was anyone else as conflicted about this match as I was? A Germany win meant Ghana had 0 points and would be going home, putting the USA in a much better position to move into the Round of 16. But I have a tendency to really root for underdog teams (yes, I realize Real Madrid aren’t underdogs) so I found myself pulling for Ghana to be the “giant killers.”
I apologize for the shortness of this particular recap. My weekend was spent largely away, and I watched this match from a beer festival that started at 2:45pm, just before kickoff, and ended at 9:00pm. I don’t drink often and when I do I don’t drink much. Champions League with Lozil, Mandi, Shigs, and Dr. P is a prime example of what happens when I mix too much beer and an overwhelming love for my team and my sport. I make promises that now I have to keep. Don’t worry Lozil, I will keep my promise.
Right… We’re talking about Germany and Ghana.
Germany: Gotze (51’), Klose (71’)
Ghana: A. Gyan (63’), A. Ayew (54’)
<h3>Lineups:</h3>
Germany (4-3-3): Manuel Neuer; Benedikt Höwedes, Mats Hummels, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng; Sami Khedira, Philipp Lahm, Toni Kroos; Mesut Özil, Mario Götze, Thomas Müller.
Ghana (4-3-3): Fatau Dauda; Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah, John Boye, Rabiu Mohammed, Kwadwo Asamoah, Christian Atsu, Sulley Muntari, Andre Ayew, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Asamoah Gyan.
Germany’s lineup remained unchanged from their 4-0 win against Portugal. Ghana made three changes from the match against USA, including starting goalkeeper Fatau Dauda instead of Adam Kwarasey and bringing in Kevin-Prince Boateng from the start at Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza. Daniel Opare was left out due to injury.
Germany started by controlling a lot of the possession and looked to have a lot of space to move around in. But Ghana had the first real chance of the match when Christian Atsu’s low cross found Asamoah Gyan. His shot flew over the bar. Soon after, Asamoah took a shot from just outside the box that Neuer, who again was excellent all match, had to stretch for.
Muller, of course, looked dangerous and Germany continuously tested Ghana’s solid defense. Around 30 minutes in, Sulley Muntari had a blinding shot on goal punched clear by Neuer. Ghana was showing that they weren’t afraid to shoot, but Germany recovered well from the chances. And Gotze saw his own shot saved by Dauda not long after.
It was brother against brother here, so I couldn’t go the whole post without photos or gifs of Kevin-Prince and Jerome Boateng.
By the end of the first half, Germany looked to be more comfortable in possession but Ghana had more shots on goal. You could feel a goal coming.
Second Half:
It took Mario Gotze only six minutes to open scoring for Germany. He connected (rather awkwardly) with Muller’s cross by sneaking between two Ghanian defenders.
Ghana responded seconds later, and very similarly, when Andre Ayew got his head brilliantly on the end of an early cross.
The equalizer put Ghana in a scoring mood and they punished Germany quickly yet again. Gyan’s shot was absolutely fired at the back post. Muntari’s ball to him also has to be commended (FIFA.com called it “righteous” and has sent me into fits of laughter). I cheered very loudly for Ghana in a room full of Germany fans. Then I immediately wished I hadn’t because I realized a Ghana win would mean that USA absolutely had to beat Portugal.
Ghana goal celebrations might be the best:
Joachim Low decided he needed a secret weapon in order to bounce back from that goal. He found it in the form of Miroslav Klose. After coming on at 68’ he scored for the Germans just 3 minutes later. He has now equalled the World Cup goals record of Ronaldo (Original Recipe). He can also still do flips at age 36.
From there, Germany gained all the momentum but just couldn’t make it work for them. Ghana defended brilliantly, showing everyone why they have frustrated more teams than just the USA for a couple of World Cups in a row now.
Ghana had an excellent opportunity to win just into added time. They were five on three on the break but it wasn’t meant to be as a player was offside.
The game ended in a poor way as Muller clattered his head into Boye’s shoulder.
It injured both players but Muller looked the worse for it with a scary amount of blood on his face.
He was tended to quickly by Miroslav Klose, something that struck me as very fatherly for some reason.
If you want to see what happened, click on the hotlinks but I don’t want to just post them in case anyone is squeamish at the sight of blood.
My notes:
The match had it’s first pitch invader of the tournament. He was quickly escorted off the pitch.
Ghana were just flat out impressive. I’m a big fan of teams/players that aren’t afraid to shoot. Ghana had 20 shots on goal to Germany’s 11. With that said, it’s important to take advantage of your chances and Germany were definitely more effective there.
Again Neuer was great. Without him there, I think Ghana would have found themselves toppling Germany. Neuer’s biggest mistake of the match came with a rather epic recovery.
Germany’s bench is so deep. When the man that scored a hat-trick against Portugal (a team often regarded much higher than Ghana) is largely off target, you can reach in and add a number of players. Klose proved why he’s (as of now) the joint high scorer in World Cup history.
Both teams made their substitutions count in big ways. It was a huge tactical win for both managers.
Next Matches:
Ghana v Portugal – Thursday, 26 June – 12pm EST
Germany v USA – Thursday, 26 June – 12pm EST
-mygypsyspirit
Of Headbands and Heartbreak
watishistacorrespondents
Of Headbands and Heartbreak... 
This team from Ghana is really pissing me off!
Why? Because they’re fighting with everything they’ve got to stay in this just like most of the other teams? That’s commendable.
As opposed to the other teams from Ghana? They’re a routinely frustrating team.
Klose under rotated his flip, reminded me of my very old gymnastics days when i did same!! LoL
See, I just looked at that and thought, well, that’s like me and my crappy balance lately. 😉 (Says the woman about to have knee surgery)
I noticed that, too. He just needed to tuck in a little bit more to get more rotation. Good thing he didn’t injure himself with that goal celebration.
Wait! You’re having knee surgery? I hope it’s a success and that your recovery will be swift. I hope you timed it right so you can have lots of WC matches to watch while you are recuperating!
Yeah I am. Torn meniscus and strained ACL. Good times fun! I’m having the surgery on July 8th so I’ll be watching the last week of the World Cup from my bed since I’m going to be working from home. 🙂 Thanks for the good wishes. I hope it goes quick too. I’ve been walking with a cane for 2 months and it’s beyond frustrating. Once this is healed, they have to remove a bone spur from the other foot. It’s just been such a drag.