Germany v Ghana
Saturday 21 June – Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza (21:00)
After a dramatic and exciting first round of Group G, Germany will face African giants Ghana with both sides looking for nothing less than three points. The pair have only met once in the last 20 years. This was in the last World Cup when Mesut Ozil’s superb second half strike saw the Germans through as group winners with a 1-0 victory. It is likely to be just as tight this time around.
Thomas Muller scored the first hat-trick of the 2014 World Cup as Germany produced a ruthless attacking display to destroy 10-man Portugal and open their World Cup campaign in style. The 24-year-old, who scored five goals to win the Golden Boot in South Africa four years ago, took his World Cup total to eight with a sensational performance. The Bayern Munich forward dispatched an early penalty, drilled home Germany’s third and tapped in a fourth, with centre-back Mats Hummels heading the second before going off with a knee injury. Portugal lost defender Pepe to a needless red card at 2-0 after he appeared to headbutt Muller, and Paulo Bento’s men could not recover as Cristiano Ronaldo had little chance to impress. After four tournaments of making the semi-finals or better, this summer could finally see Germany realise their undoubted full potential. The abundant depth in the German squad means Joachim Low’s selection could be key to their chances, but whoever is chosen, they will still be strong contenders. They have a host of players who are deadly in front of net, but Thomas Muller will be their go-to-man for goals after demolishing Portugal. Arsenal playmaker f Mesut Ozil was under pressure from fans and neutrals alike to be dropped from the national team due to recent poor performances. Yet through Low’s refreshing 4-3-3 system, which had Ozil play on the right of the attacking three, we once again saw brief glimpses of the magic that made him one of the most sought-after players in the world following a breakthrough World Cup in South Africa four years ago. Within just one game the former Real Madrid star has gone from public enemy number one to Germany’s key attacking midfielder for the remainder of the tournament.
USA edged the Ghanains 2-1 in their opening match giving a measure of revenge to the Americans for being knocked out of the past two World Cups by Ghana. Clint Dempsey put USA ahead on 29 seconds with the fifth-fastest goal in World Cup history. Ghana upped the tempo and equalised when Andre Ayew latched on to Asamoah Gyan’s backheel to fire in a leveller in the 82nd minute but USA’s John Brooks nodded in from six yards following a corner to give his side a winning start. Ghana have made no secret of their desire to emulate their quarter-final appearance in South Africa four years ago. On that occasion it was only a last second penalty miss that stopped them going through to the last four. The Ayew brothers and Asamoah Gyan have formed a lethal aliance in attack and will be the one’s to threaten Germany’s back-line. The defeat to USA is a heavy set back for the Black Stars and getting any result against Germany will be a tough task.
Ghana’s defence is where their main weaknesses seems to lie, as their attacking spirit often seems to make them forget about their own goal, meaning their back-line will occasionally become isolated and Germany will be looking to exploit that. Germany are tipped to build on their opening win with another victory here.
