As the group of death came to a close on the final day of group stage play, all 4 teams still had a chance to either make it to the knockout stages or head home early. Would Germany and the United States play out a boring draw at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife?
Could Ghana knock the United States out for the third World Cup in a row, even after the USA had finally beat them 2-1 in the opener ? Would Real Madrid’s Ronaldo finally shine on the World Cup stage and lead Portugal to an improbable comeback after their heavy 4-0 defeat against Germany in the opener?
The game in Recife at a time was in limbo as reports of flooding and torrential downpours threatened the conditions of the pitch. The game would kick-off on schedule however and any thoughts of a boring game were quickly put to rest.
Although the conditions made it very hard for the players to pass and control the ball, Germany set out quickly to establish dominance. The entire first 10 minutes belonged to the Germans as they looked to exploit the early space left open on the left side of the American defense. With Houston Dynamo winger Brad Davis failing to track back on his World Cup debut, American left back DaMarcus Beasley looked helpless early on. Noticing this weakness, American coach Jurgen Klinsmann decided to switch his wingers switching Sporting Kansas City’s Graham Zusi to the left.
The rest of the half would even out a bit more with both teams creating a few half chances on both sides of the pitch and the United States players began to look a little bit more comfortable on the ball in possession.
A change at half-time for Germany would see the talismanic striker and joint-top scorer in World Cup history Miroslav Klose come on in place of Arsenal FC forward Lukas Podolski.
Klose would nearly break the deadlock and the all-time scoring record only minutes after coming on when he would lose both American central defenders before slightly latching onto a header that was just a bit too high. Luckily for the United States the chance went just wide and the score remained 0-0.
Germany would finally get the breakthrough in the 55th minute after a corner played in by Germany would be punched out to the edge of the box by Everton FC goalkeeper Tim Howard. His clearance would only go far as a charging Thomas Muller and the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot winner would make the Americans pay with a blasted shot into the right hand side of goal.
Anxiety levels for the USA supporters would go from frustrated to flat out worried only 2 minutes later as Asamoah Gyan had leveled things up for the Ghanaians in the 57th minute nearly 2,000 kilometers away in the Brazilian capital.
Another goal by Ghana would mean that the United States would be headed out and the Black Stars would be advancing to the Round of 16.
All four teams in both games would have their share of chances in the last 20 minutes of the game, most notably for the United States in the waning moments of the game as two quick chances in succession nearly led to an equalizer for the Americans. Had it not been for FC Bayern’s Philip Lahm’s 60 yard run to save the initial effort in, it could have easily been 1-1.
Only four days after driving a late dagger into American hearts with his game tying assist, the first goal of the tournament by Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the 80th minute would be enough to seal the places of both Germany and the United States in the Round of 16.
For Germany it would mean things had run their course as expected. The Germans won the group and will look to advance deep into the tournament. For the United States it would mean that they had beaten all odds and defied all doubts about their abilities to survive the Group of Death, advancing to the knockout stages in consecutive World Cups for the first time in team history.
(Chelsea FC sidenote) Andre Schurrle would enter the game for Germany in the 89th minute and other than one run on the left wing that nearly led to a chance would not have enough time to have any effect on the match.
