Germany, Ghana, Portugal and USA have been strong and consistent countries who have fought very hard to be part of the World Cup in the last three tournaments hosted respectively by Germany, South Africa and currently Brazil 2014.
Germany meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portuguese side was a much anticipated match as the world awaited a clash of world class players showing superiority in their clash.
The first game in Group G ended with Germany having an upper hand over the Portuguese side by thrashing them 4:0 which saw the likes of Ronaldo, Nani, Moutinho and other players highly devastated by the lost.
Real Madrid’s star and central defender Pepe is the second player to see a straight red card and the third player to see a red card in the tournament. The red card incident came as a result of the intensity of the match as Pepe head-butted Germany’s top scorer in the tournament so far, Thomas Muller indicating how tough the group is. But while the going gets increasingly tough, the players have not given up but are rather eager to do all they can to get to get their sides to advance to the next stage of the competition.
Group G, rightly labeled as one of the toughest groups in the fixings, have justified that early tag as the results of matches played so far are evident. Germany beating Portugal by 4 : 0 was unexpected.
The second group ‘G’ fixture was a rivalry match between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Yankees of USA. From the bench of the Americans were star players like Clint Dempsey (C), Josy Altidore, Bradley and former Manchester United goal keeper Tim Howard. The Black Stars also came with the likes of Skipper of the side, Asamoah Gyan, AC Milan’s Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari, Juventus midfielder Kwadjo Asamoah and the Ayew brothers Dede and Jordan.
The pairing which saw Ghana and USA meeting for the third time in the World Cup raised eyebrows as many people saw it a scenario that wouold affect the USA’s chances of qualifying from the group stage. 2010 was a chance for USA to have a revenge on Ghana for eliminating them from the South Africa 2010, but that was not possible as the Black Stars headed by Milovan Rajevac clinched victory.
Following a 1-1 draw in regulation, the goals were by K-P Boateng and a spot-kick from Donovan. Ghana scored a brilliant game-winner in the third minute of extra time on a 15-yard balloon from Dede Ayew to Asamoah Gyan, who ran past two defenders of USA and fired his left footer shot over goalkeeper Tim Howard from his own defensive half.
Even with a game to spare at the group stage, many countries have booked qualification into the next round, but as with the Group of Death, no one is sure who is staying or who is packing bag and baggage. Group leader Germany, with four points from two games, is as unsure of qualification just as bottome placed Portugal, with just a point, cannot be ruled out totally.
Defending champions, Spain, are out having suffered two successive defeats, including the humiliating 5:1 thrashing by the Netherlands. Other teams in other groups have gone on to win big. France also whipped Switzerland by 5-2 while Algeria smashed their Asian opponents South Korea 4-2.
A narrow escape from US defeat sustains Portugal’s chances of qualifying, the two sides settling for a draw on Sunday night.
“It’s clearly not a good result for us. The 2-2 doesn’t put us out of the World Cup mathematically, but it does leave us in a very difficult situation. Not just because of what we’ll need to do against Ghana, but also because we’ll need a favorable result from the Germany-United States game," Paulo Bento, Portugal coach is quoted by fifa.com as saying.
Many predictions have failed as the ongoing World Cup keeps popping out surprises. The team that qualifies from the group of death might be heading straight to the finals. Is it going to be Joachim Loew’s Germany, Jurgen Clinsmann’s USA, Paulo Bento’s Portugal or Akwesi Appiah’s Black Stars? Thursday will tell.
