Following the surprising scorelines from the last round of games in Group D, all four sides still stand a chance of making the knock out stages.
Serbia kept their dream of escaping the group a real shot in the arm with their surprise victory over Germany, whilst Australia’s brave draw with Ghana has given them a chance – albeit a slight one – of making an appearance in a second consecutive World Cup last-16. (more…)
Germany impressed the pundits in their opener against Australia
The first round of Group D fixtures gave us two winners, and those two sides will be looking to secure their progression to the knock out stages in their fixtures this Friday and Saturday afternoons. Group favourites Germany impressed many ‘expert’ pundits, and arguably gave the best performance of any side in the tournament’s first group games, whilst Ghana edged past Serbia thanks to a penalty in a tight and cautious game. Australia have a lot of work to do following their poor display against the Germans all of which must be done without star man Tim Cahill following his harsh sending off. (more…)
Ghana
Qualified: Winners of Group 5 (in second round), Winners of Group D (in third round)
Best World Cup finish: Last 16: 2006
FIFA Ranking: 32
Odds for 2010: 100/1
Ghana successfully negotiated two rounds of qualifying to secure their place in the first ever African based World Cup and also a place at their second consecutive tournament following their run to the last-16 of the 2006 tournament before being eliminated by five time winners Brazil.
Like Germany, Ghana have been robbed of their star player, the versatile Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who will miss the tournament having sustained a knee injury during ‘the Black Stars’ African Cup of Nations campaign in January 2010, an injury that ruled him out of the rest of his club’s domestic campaign and which ultimately ended his World Cup chances, with a recovery estimated for late in July.
In his absence, the responsibility of his role in the side will be spread across the rest of the side, with Essien’s all-round midfield contribution regarded as almost impossible to replace. (more…)
