Tag Archives: Ghana

Germany 1-0 Ghana: Ghana pay the price for not picking up Özil, but both progress

“Like yesterday’s Uruguay v Mexico game – a strange contest, because both teams were happy with the scoreline as it stood for most of the second half.
As such, mentality and strategy are difficult to assess, but these are certainly the best two sides in the group, and they put on a great show in Durban that resulted in a narrow victory for Germany, the group winners.” I(Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Ghana 0-1 Germany
“If England supporters had reason to be concerned that their run of not having been knocked out at the opening stages of the World Cup finals since 1958 mind come to an end, then the question of what might be running through the minds of German supporters this evening probably also merits our consideration. Germany last failed to get through the opening round of the World Cup finals in 1938 and, unlike England, they have qualified for every tournament since then. Yet the precariousness of their position has gone curiously unmentioned in the British press. If Germany fail to beat Ghana this evening and Serbia beat Australia, Germany, who had everyone singing their praises after the opening match hiding that they dished out to Australia, will be out in the first round of the World Cup finals.” (twohundredpercent)

Ghana 0-1 Germany – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 23 June 2010
“Germany and Ghana played their final group stage match with a chance at the knockout stage still alive. The winner would win Group D and likely play England in the next round. Germany would be favored but Ghana came into the match with the lead with four points.” (The 90th Minute)

Australia 2-1 Serbia – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 23 June 2010
“Australia needed a win and some help while Serbia could advance with a draw as the two teams played in Group D. Serbia would favored but Australia will be wanting to show their run into the round of 16 in 2006 was not a fluke. Australia was unlikely to have a chance to win the group while Serbia could with a win and better goal difference then Germany (if they won).” (The 90th Minute)

2010 FIFA World Cup Group D Final Standings: Germany & Ghana advance
“The matches in Group D are finished in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as Germany & Ghana have advanced. Ghana topped Australia on goal difference while Germany led the final standings with six points. Australia just missed out on goal difference as they beat Serbia 2-1 in their final match. It was a close group in the end and all three teams still had a chance going into their final match. Germany will now place England in the next round while Ghana faces the USA.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup 2010: Ghana 1-1 Australia

“This game sees us pass the halfway point of the group stages. By the end of Friday, we’ll have lost half of the teams, and we’ll know the shape of the knockout stages. Once we reach the knockout stages, most of the contrasting games (whether in ability, age or experience) will be over, and the main contrasts we’re likely to get between opponents are playing style and location. Ghana and Australia are as big a contrast as you can get. Australia are an aging team, with a wealth of experience. The nucleus of the squad is from the team that reached the last 16 in Germany, with six of them being aged 30 or over.” (twohundredpercent)

Australia 1-1 Ghana – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – World Cup – 19 June 2010
“Ghana could move on top of the Group D with any result while Australia needed some points after their opening loss to Germany. A win for Ghana would put them three points clear of Serbia and Germany who both have three after two matches. Australia wouldn’t be eliminated with another loss but would be in very tough shape without at least a draw.” (The 90th Minute)

Serbia 0-1 Ghana – Video Highlights, Recap and Match Stats – World Cup – 13 June 2010


Soweto, Kliptown. 1890 and 1910.
“Serbia and Ghana faced off in Group D action with both teams knowing that a loss would put their knockout stage chances in the balance. Both teams are likely fighting for second place with Germany a clear favorite to win the group. The teams played the early match (13:30 local time) on Sunday, June 13, 2010.” (The 90th Minute)

Experience at the World Cup

“It’s an oft-used cliché that experience is necessary in order to win the greatest football competition in the world. In fact, only the other day I saw Steve Hodge being interviewed on Sky Sports News talking about this very subject. I think he was trying to tout his Maradona ’86 World Cup shirt again but was nonetheless happy enough to offer his wisdom to Sky Sports’ rolling news feed. He made the point that the sides who won the World Cup normally had an average age of around 28/29. He’s got a point, the average age of the World Cup winning Italian squad of four years ago was 28 years and 8 months.” (twinty tin)

Ghana: defensive, cohesive and underrated

“‘Tactically naive’ is the common criticism for any African side which fails, generally regardless of the nature of their defeat or their manager’s tactical acumen. Ghana showed at the Africa Nations Cup earlier this year that they are anything but tactically naive. As if to emphasize what a silly criticism it is, Ghana were then labelled boring and defensive for daring to set out in a fashion that might maximise their chances of victory.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Matthew Booth the perfect advertisement for integrated South Africa

“So when some members of the Spanish press thought they heard him being booed by black fans at the Confederations Cup last summer they thought they had a great story about racial disharmony in the new South Africa and filed their copy to Madrid. They got it excruciatingly, embarrassingly wrong. The fans were celebrating their cult hero, launching into a resonant chant of “Booth!” every time the 6″6 centre-half met the ball with one of his thumping defensive headers.” (Telegraph)