Germany 2-2 Ghana

Against one of the World Cup’s favourites, Ghana were excellent value in this hugely entertaining draw.

The Germans opened the scoring as Mario Gotze managed to head the ball onto his knee which rolled past the Black Stars goalkeeper Abdul Dauda. The Africans though were full of endeavour and soon turned the tie on its head with two goals inside 10 minutes.

Andre Ayew equalised and then Asamoah Gyan opened his 2014 World Cup account in the 63rd minute—his goal meant he joined the iconic Roger Milla as Africa’s top-scorer in World Cup finals football with five goals.

Miroslav Klose was summoned off the bench and with his first touch he joined Brazilian Ronaldo at the top of the all-time World Cup scorers list with 15 goals as he earned a point for Die Mannschaft.

In a high-octane slug fest of a match, Thomas Muller had a chance to score what would have been a winner but he was thwarted by a tremendous last-ditch tackle by Juventus defender Kojo Asamoah.

Portugal 2-2 USA

Deep in the Amazon, Portugal and the US played out their own thriller where Cristiano Ronaldo started the match showcasing his skills.

Shortly afterwards, in the fifth minute, Nani rifled the Portuguese ahead. Rather than impose themselves further given their unfavourable goal difference, it was the Americans who took control as Clint Dempsey became the focal threat.

The Stars and Stripes struck back through a wonderful Jermaine Jones curling effort which left Portuguese goalkeeper Beto rooted to the spot. Then, with less than 10 minutes remaining, Clint Dempsey doubled his tally for the tournament with an improvised finish and the Americans were on the verge of qualification.

However, deep into injury-time, Silvestre Varela broke their hearts with a diving header as Ronaldo, who largely had a game to forget, supplied a sublime cross converted by the flying Porto winger. The equaliser earned the Selecção a share of the spoils to maintain their faint hopes of knock-out football.

Both Ghana and Portugal must win their match against each other to have any hope of progression.

However a draw in Recife between the US and Germany will result in both booking their spots in the last-16.

FINAL GROUP G FIXTURES (Thursday 26th June—both games kick-off at 5pm GMT)

Germany vs USA

Portugal vs Ghana

____________________________

RELATED ARTICLES

– Germany start the 2014 in formidable fashion while Dempsey inspires Klinsmann’s USA to three valuable points