FIFA World Cup 2010: Germany 1-0 Ghana - Full Time Review
Ghana headed into the match against Germany as Africa's best hope of having a representation in the second round of the World Cup. The Germans, on the other hand, were one of the favourties to win the tournament. Germany started this match with a change forced through suspension. Klose picked up a red card in the last game against the Serbs and sat this one out. Ghana were pretty much at full strength, except for Michael Essein, who missed the whole tournament altogether.
An interesting fact about the game was that this was the first time two brothers were playing agaisnt each other in a World Cup. Jerome playing for the Germans, whereas his younger brother, Kevin Prince, started for Ghana. Germany make the brighter start of the two teams and in the first ten minutes they have over sixty percent of the possession. Ghana only needed a point to go through to the next round, and the way they played in the first half showed that they would be more than happy to just get a point from the game. Their strategy revolved around trying to catch the germans at the break but this tournament had showed that such a strategy could be very risky.
Gyan got the best chance of the game in the opening stages, as a Ghanaian player ran down the touching and gave him a pass for what should have been an easy finish but Schweinsteiger reacted quickly to the opening and managed to block the shot.
In the 25th minute a mistake by Mertesacker almost allowed Ghana to score but the Ghanian forward, Ayew took to long to take his shot and in the end he did not manage to get a proper strikeso the attack fizzled out. In the 28th minute, only a last ditch interception from the German captain, Philip Lahm, stopped the Ghanaians from taking the lead after the German defense was ripped open. Ghana's plan of letting the Germans attack and then hitting them on the couter has worked in this half but they did not manage to get the all important goal.
It stayed 0-0 at half time with both teams getting a number of half chances, but with Ghana having the better chances of the game. Both sides recieved one booking each, Muller being booked for the Germanswhereas, Ayew was the only Ghanaian to be booked by the referee. If the score had stayed the same at full time, Germany and Ghana would both have qualified for the next round, with Ghana going through as group winners.
The second half started with neither of the teams making any changes to their respective sides. The half started explosively with the Germans being put under pressure by a Ghana side which was starting to look very strong. Neurer, the German Goalkeeper, had to use all of his agility to stop asomah from scoring after he had been put through on goal. A very good save by a higly rated keeper.
The game was being played at a frantic pace, with the Germans struggling to keep up with their Ghanaian counterparts. The Germans tried their best to get back into the game but they didn't seem like being able to have a sustained spell of pressure again in the game.
Ozil, the creative influence in the German side, was struggling to break down a resolute Ghanaian defense and the match looked like it was going to go the way of the Africans who had, undoubtedly, been the better side up until the 60th minute but that's when the game changed. It was always going to take an exceptional piece of skill to break the deadlock and that is exactly what Ozil provided. As the ball was rolled to him across the penalty area, he set up the volley and then smashed the ball with his left foot into the back of the net.An exceptional goal from a truly special player.
The goal spurred on the Ghanaians ever more but they were denied time and again by the German Goalkeeper, Neurer, who was putting in a performance that the legendary German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, would be proud of.The roles seemed to be reversed after the goal, as it was the Germans now who started to play on the break with the Ghanaians struggling to break them down when attacking.
The tempo of the match picked up once again as it moved into the last quarter. News from the other match practially confirmed Germany's place in the next round as group winners but Ghana were still in danger of going out if the Serb's made it 2-2 with Australia, since that would have eliminated Ghana.
In the end the match finished 1-0 to the Germans. Both teams go through to the next round. The Ghanians are the only african to have made it to the next round of the tournament so far and the Germans have once again showed that they can't be ruled out as potential winners.
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