Man if it wasn't for that minor slip up against USA and the stupid stress errors caused by the Ghanaian camp before the Portugal game I'm 100% certain Ghana would have advanced to the Semi Finals. That team was heavily underrated...
Not taking anything away from the US, they did well this tournament, but against Germany They played a team that pretty much had NOTHING to play for whereas the US had EVERYTHING to play for , and they still LOST. I didn't see the match but I heard it wasn't pretty either. Ghana should have done better overall, they were their own worst enemies, not the other teams. People like to rip CAF sides, but they are the only teams that were competitive with this monster German side. Cameroon also drew with Germany 2-2 in Germany right before the WC. I know people will say its only a friendly, but what is the excuse for Ghana and Algeria. African football is much better than people give it credit for, and yes I understand that they always underachieve and screw up a lot.
On a separate note, this is the worst result of this tournament, and it is THE HOME TEAM. They equal the Portugal 6 N Korea 0 of 2010 and the Argentina 6 Serbia 0 of 2006 (or was it 5-0 ? don't remember)
well, it was a team based more on emotions than on quality or tactics. And the pressure got too big. They suffered the first goal, and they simply collapsed. Imploded. It´s clear the final score was anormal, because 4 goals were scored in only 6 minutes if I am not mistaken. A clear blackout of the team, typical of emotional collapse rather than tactical collapse. and the team stopped playing rationally and just tried to score, opening up even more for the germans. like we say in Brazil: "what is a fart to someone who is already shitted on the pants"?
It's been said all along, including some Brazilian fans: this team was built around very few players so great they could make soccer thugs look good. Two of those were not on the pitch and that's all it takes.
It doesn't work like that. By that logic Switzerland was the best team on the planet in '10 since they beat Spain. Every game is different.
Portugal won 7-0 and Argentina 6. Hwoever there have actually been heavier defeats in World Cups than that. hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982 or Yugoslavia's 9-0 against Zaire
Both the US and the German teams new they were into the next round by halftime of their game. It was a passionless slog. If Ghana wanted to advance, they needed to beat the US team, which they could not. They lost to the US team because the US team is better. Period. Just because Ghana gave a little excitement while holding the ball in the US half (and never really generating many chances) doesn't mean that they were better. The US gave them the ball because they knew they couldn't do anything with it in the time needed. And what became of Ghana when they finally tied the US team? The US team scored to take the lead almost as quickly as they did the first time. USA > Ghana. It's over. Done.
I still feel Algeria could've won that game if they didn't come out and start 2 of their backup CM's (Lacen and Mostefa), a box-to-box mid at AM (Taider), and a striker at LW (Soudani). Slimani also missed so many open field chances because he isn't technical enough. I'm almost certain if Algeria started Nabil Ghilas instead, Neuer would've been beaten. I've seen Ghilas pull off too many crazy technical plays at Porto. Beating Germany is tough. Had it been another team, Algeria would've played for penalties. I guess we're going to have to qualify for 2018 now. I don't like our chances.
Seen ghilas play for porto last season he's pretty fast and strong and scored some great goals ..pretty munched saved porto from getting eliminated many times
He was huge in the Europa League for Porto as an impact sub. He didn't get to start as the main striker because Martinez has had that job for a few seasons now. Ghilas still showed flashes of technical brilliance. His rabona cross and assist was one of my favorites. I can't believe he was playing amateur football 4 years ago.
? Absolutely not in tune with the truth. At 1:1 Ghana was a goal away from advancing ahead of USA. They were still powerless against USA.
No they don't Like I said in the Algeria game it's all chance conversion. Also Lahm at RB, that is important If they had the same chance conversion they had from this game and the Portugal one, in the Ghana and Algeria games they could have scored 4 at least. But Germany didn't score so many and it wasn't because the Africans defended well Algeria and Ghana did not stop Germany from scoring. They simply were lucky Germany were more wasteful. The only team that went head to head with them was France and they kept it close because they are class
Clueless comment. Germany were similarly lucky that Ghana were wasteful. Just before Germany tied at 2:2 Ghana, Ghana had several opportunities to extend the lead to 3-1 (the gilt edged chance where Jordan Ayew decided to shot instead of pass the ball to a wide open Gyan the most telling) and put the game beyond the Germans. At that point in time Ghana looked set to do a Holland vs Spain on Germany. Ghana also had 3 breakaways where it was 3-5 attackers vs 2 defenders. Ghana had 20 shots on goal with 10 on target vs Germany with 11 shots on goal with 6 on target. So which team was wasteful? As for France - they did not keep it close. They were clueless in attack. Germany closed up shop after scoring early and France didn't trouble Germany anywhere near to the extent of which Ghana did. Ghana was the only team that went head to head with Germany. Anyone that claims they didn't is deluded.
Lol this can't be serious? How about suspending bias for a minute and looking at reality... they got outed in virtually EVERY stat in that game besides the scoreboard. Other then Beasley getting raped and Ghana's atrocious crosses I saw nothing in that entire game that makes me believe USA> Ghana.
Im not hating n the USA honestly they did well but they where very negative in every game playing Ghana they scored in the first 5 mins and tried to sit back and defend there way to victory, If Ghana where less gready infront of goal they could of won that game players constanly having shots from 30 yards rather than passing to create clear chances Playing Germany the USA only got in the Germany box 3 times twice from corners and once on the break in injury time there is a huge difference between going out keeping 10 men behind the ball and making your self hard to beat and going out and attacking and playing to win especially playing against a counter attacking team like the germans
That seems to be a common theme when it comes to arrogant fans who think every African team is somehow beneath them.
What happened to Ghana: 1) Defender injuries led to Ghana's defence being the weakest yet at a World Cup. Add to that the lack of a set goalkeeper and Ghana was much more mistake prone than in 2006 and 2010, which proved their downfall, as they conceeded 5 cheap goals. 2) They underestimated USA and allowed them to suckerpunch the team. This may have been also connected with the lack of focus because of some hotel issues. Kwesi Appiah also made several mistakes tactically with starting inexperienced Jordan Ayew and playing Kwadwo Asamoah in left back the most prominent. 3) Ghana refocused for Germany and showed their potential level. Came close to handidly winning the game, but earned a deserved draw. 4) The behind the scenes issues derailed focus from the Portugal game. Muntari and Boateng kicked out of camp. A whole training day wasted to pay strike. Flying in money. Despite that Ghana played a good game (although by far their poorest), but got gutted by an own goal and a inexcusable assist by Dauda to Ronaldo. Ghana was a top team at this tournament, but their campaign ultimately got derailed by off-field issues.
While I'm not saying that Ghana should have advanced , Germany during this game didn't draw them because of lack of conversion. The match with Ageria & Ghana were not the same in what is concerning goal chances. You're lumping together 2 matches totally different in their physionomy . I mean against Ghana, they had 11 attempts (which 6 were on target ) to Ghana 20 (10 on target). I would say that the turning point during this game was J.Ayew not passing the ball to a lonely Gyan in the penalty box. Against Algeria they shot 29 times (22 on target ) and the the Algerian GK was elected MOTM. The opposing team indeed, resisted "heroically".
Still so mad at that... it would have been a famous win, if Ayew had only passed. From then on Ghana would be 2 goals up with 20 minutes to go and Germany would either have to push forward and risk Ghana pulling an Egypt on them or concede the game and play it conservatively to avoid the risk of a battering. It would have been an epic win for African football and would take away any sour taste this World Cup has put on Africa. There are just too many almost moments for Africa at this World Cup...
It's not about that. Against Portugal and Brazil they converted their first chances. I mean vs Brazil they scored 3 goals from 5 chances. Portugal I think they were 2 out of the first 4 chances. It they scored at the same rate Ghana too would have been found themlseves with a mountain to climb and from that point on, Germany would have taken them behind the woodshed Also why the hell are we talking about Ghana. They got 1 point overall. UEFA teams with one point in last place is the kind of teams apparently don't deserve to be at the WC. As for USA they don't belong to this discussion. Germany took it easy and after they scored the 1st they didn't care anymore. They would have accepted a draw easily Sweden scored 7 goals in 2 games vs Germany. They are better than Brazil now?