GERMANY 2-2 GHANA
For Ghana it was a strong rebound from their late loss to the U.S. earlier this week. For Germany, it's a wasted opportunity to take a stranglehold in this group and they'll need to beat the U.S. in their last game to ensure advancement from this group.
It was an uncharacteristic performance from Germany who found themselves turning the ball over frequently and paying the price defensively against the speed of Ghana.
Game did not open up until after the halftime break. Mario Gotze managed to sneak through Harrison Afful and Jonathan Mensah in the 51st minute to knock home the first goal of the game for Germany. Not the best of touches for Gotze, his header from goalfront went straight down in to his knee but fortunately redirected past Fatau Dauda for the German lead.
The goal woke up the Ghanian attackers though. Immediately following, Andre Ayew scored for Ghana on an almost-identical play as the Gotze goal. Ayew got in front of recent substitute Shkodran Mustafi in the penalty area to head home from right in front of Manuel Neuer.
Back on their heels, Ghana nearly put a dagger in the heart of Germany in the 63rd minute. Repeatedly able to get behind the German defence, Asamoah Gyan did so once more to link up with a Sulley Muntari pass. Gyan buried it behind Neuer to give Ghana the 2-1 lead and make Gyan the leading scorer in Ghana history.
Ghana almost put it away after Jordan Ayew bolted down the left wing on a partial break but Neuer was able to save and temporarily reduce the pressure. Germany then brought Miroslav Klose on to the field and got an immediate return on the substitution. Klose got a flick on a ball at the back post off a corner kick and tied the game for Germany.
Klose's goal was his 15th ever in the World Cup and tied him with Ronaldo for the most goals in World Cup finals history.
Germany turned up the heat on the Ghanaian goal, buoyed by the Klose equalizer but could not penetrate the Ghana line again and the game ended in an exciting draw.
Goals
Germany: Mario Gotze (51'), Miroslav Klose (71')
Ghana: Andre Ayew (54'), Asamoah Gyan (63')
Discipline
Germany: N/A
Ghana: Sulley Muntari (Yellow 90+3' - Misses Next Game)
Man of the Match
Mario Gotze was named Man of the Match in this contest. Gotze scored the first goal of the game (perhaps unintentionally) and had success coming off the wings in this game. My choice would have been for Andre Ayew who equalized for Ghana at 1-1 and played all over the midfield, consistently using his speed to threaten the German defenders and break up plays in midfield.
Key Moment
4 minutes after Ghana went up 2-1, Ghana found themselves with a 3 on 1 break with Jordan Ayew leading off the left wing. A 3rd goal would have been curtains for Germany but the defenders somehow managed to slow the rush up and Manuel Neuer turned in a big save on Ayew's shot. It kept Germany in a game that had gotten out of their control and gave them some stability and momentum to tie the game.
What we learned from Germany
First off it was a bad outing by Germany. Far too many turnovers in midfield for a team like this and their finishing touches were missing in the Ghanaian penalty area. Couldn't deal with Ghanaian speed on the wings but that's not a surprise. Klose had a big impact when they brought him in, and Germany may want to go with Klose from the start of the game as the false nine did not work for them today.
What we learned from Ghana
Didn't have a chance to show it against the U.S. but this is a far better midfield and defence then they get credit for. Continually got in the way of German balls through the midfield and dealt with constant German pressure on their penalty area. Not much offence up the centre of the pitch again but completely burned Germany on the wings. Will be able to exploit that against Portugal as well.
Going Forward
Going to do a partial standings update tonight to better look at how this group may play out.
Going to do a partial standings update tonight to better look at how this group may play out.
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