No surprises in the final picture of Group G, as Germany beat the United States 1-0 with both teams qualifying to the round of 16, while Portugal beat Ghana 2-1 with a pair of hilarious goals that sent both teams away from the World Cup.
The rains on and around Recife didn’t take away from the friendly atmosphere as two former partners in Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Low led their teams into a match that felt like a friendly match more than anything else.
Both sides needed a draw, and there was hardly an attempt from the United States to win the match, making only two attempts at goal the entire match, both of them from outside the box. Germany found it quite easy to make their way into the American box, but usually were too slow to bring a lethal finishing touch.
A goal from Thomas Muller, his fourth in the competition and ninth in his World Cup career, was enough to give Germany the win and the top spot in the group, meaning they’ll meet whoever finishes second in Group H. The United States, thanks to better goal difference than Portugal, find themselves in the next stage for a second consecutive time, probably headed towards a match against Belgium.
Ghana did Portugal’s work for them – by imploding before the match as two players were sent home as the fight over money and bonuses, not for the first time, ruins a tournament for one of the African teams. Portugal didn’t play well, but scored twice – once through a silly own goal from John Boye, once through Cristiano Ronaldo, enjoying a terrible parry by goalkeeper Fatawu Dauda.
Asamoah Gyan did score the best goal of the day by connecting with a beautiful pass from Kwadwo Asamoah, but despite producing some very nice football in the three matches, find themselves going home after just one point in the three matches.