The two Boateng brothers going head-to-head? What more do you want? It’s the intriguing battle of Germany and Ghana at the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza. It promises to be a great one.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the game. E-mail sport@thescore.ie, tweet @thescore_ie, post a message to our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.
You may need to refresh the page for YouTube videos and other elements to display correctly.
Germany 2-2 Ghana (Goetze 51, A. Ayew 54, Gyan 63, Klose 71)
Good evening. How are we doing? A bit down after that Iran result? Yeah, me too. This clash promises much. Let’s start with the teams.
Germany starting XI: Neuer, Howedes, Hummels, Khedira, Ozil, Muller, Lahm (c), Mertesacker, Kroos, Gotze, Boateng.
Ghana starting XI: Dauda, Gyan (c), Atsu, Boateng, A Ayew, Muntari, Rabiu, Mensah, Asamoah, Boye, Afful.
So, a couple of things. Mats Hummels is fit to start while Kevin-Prince Boateng, having come on in the second-half during Ghana’s 2-1 defeat by the US in their opening game, gets the nod here after his injury problems have eased. That means that he’ll face his half-brother, Jerome, who’s at right-back for the Germans.
A nice little angle.
And in case you’re wondering, Ghana are from Africa.
And keep an eye out for Miroslav Klose tonight. He’s on the bench but is just one goal away from equalling Ronaldo’s all-time World Cup record haul of 15. That’s Brazil’s Ronaldo, by the way. This chap. Looks a bit different these days, mind.
And we’re off! Here are the Boateng brothers in happier, less-competitive times.
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
The good news for Ghana early on is, unlike the US game, they haven’t conceded inside the first thirty seconds. Progress.
This will give you an idea of the formations this evening. There’ll be a few alterations but this seems quite close.
5th minute – Good break from Howedes down the left – clever pass from deep to set him free. But Ghana get back with Jonathan Mensah doing well. Have to be careful not to push up too much because the Germans will hurt them. Also, Philipp Lahm just lost possession a moment ago. Yep. It happened.
7th minute – CLOSE! Muntari sends a great pass into the right-channel and Atsu, Ghana’s best player against the US, races towards it, settles, sends in a dangerous low cross to Gyan but the finish is pretty wasteful – high, wide and not very handsome. But Atsu already getting involved again.
After his hat-trick against Portugal, lots of attention on Thomas Mueller tonight. He set the World alight four years ago and seems set to do it again in Brazil. Here’s an interesting stat. Esteemed company, really.
10th minute – Lahm pushes forward and looks to slide it through for Mesut Ozil. Dauda, Ghan’s keeper, is off his line quickly and he deals with it.
13th minute – CLOSE! Atsu – tries his luck from distance – a crisp left-footed drive after some lovely skill but Neuer is quite comfortable with it, electing to parry it to safety. Ghana have looked quite impressive in the attacking third so far with Atsu at the centre of everything.
Unsurprisingly, Germany have bossed possession so far but Ghana have threatened more. Here’s a colourful image to back that up.
18th minute – CLOSE! Kroos plays it up the line for Ozil to run onto. He’s got Muller in the area but elects to cut it back to Khedira on the edge of the area. But the midfielder’s low shot towards the near post is very tame and Dauda makes an easy save. A good position for Germany and a decent chance.
21st minute – CLOSE! Ozil is involved again on the left and this time he does pick out Muller in the six-yard area. But he’s tracked by John Boye who gets across to challenge and put enough pressure on. Muller looks in the mood though, ominously enough for Ghana.
Just on Muller…I had the pleasure of covering the 2012 Champions League final and pitch-side during the game, I was mesmerised by Muller’s positioning. Cahill and Luiz had huge problems coping with his movement. Was interesting hearing Jogi Löw’s comments before this game about Muller not being conventional on the pitch. Makes him incredibly tricky to monitor. Anyway…back to the game.
29th minute – CHANCE! Was just in the middle of typing that the game was in a lull and then Mario Goetze charged up the right side and sent in the cross that was blocked by a Ghana body but ricocheted back towards goal and hit the side-netting. Pretty scrappy but a narrow escape for the Africans.
33rd minute – CLOSE! Sulley Muntari sends a well-struck shot hurtling towards goal but though there’s a little bend on it, Neuer gets behind it and punches it well clear. Solid left-footer but comfortable stop, really.
36th minute – CLOSE! Ozil pops up on the left side and races into the channel to pick up a lovely flick from Kroos. Looks to sweep it across for Muller but Ghana have men back and deal with it.
37th minute – CLOSE! Lots of movement with Germany’s attackers. Goetze and Ozil are constantly switching and picking up excellent positions. This time, Goetze has the space to drill a shot towards goal but it’s straight at Dauda.
41st minute – CLOSE! We’re seeing a pattern here. Muller picks it up on the left side of the Ghana area, gets turned and sends a superb cross right across the six-yard area. Goetze is close to it but just can’t stretch far enough. If Muller himself was on the end of that, we may have had our opener.
We saw this for German’t previous game against Portugal. And it was such a good idea, it’s happened again tonight. This is the Union Berlin stadium. Pretty cool, eh?
45th minute – That’s more like it from Ghana. A corner is sent in and Neuer flaps at it. They try and engineer a shot from distance but Germany get bodies back to suss out the danger.
And that’s half-time. Scoreless, certainly not the best forty-five minutes we’ve seen but interesting to see Ghana frustrate Germany here. They’ve reduced them to half-chances and tested Neuer themselves with a couple of long-range shots.
Goetze and Ozil have made some good runs and combined with Muller but perhaps we’ll see Podolski and/or Schurrle if this continues through the second half.
And, I should really add that it’s thirty degrees in Fortaleza so testing conditions for all of the players. With Ghana having to be so disciplined, perhaps it’s been mentally draining (as well as physically exhausting) for them and that could open things up after the break.
This must be heart-breaking. You put all that energy into making this sign and Schweini is only on the bench. By the way, it says: ‘Schweini, welcome. I love you.’
46th minute – SUBSTITUTION! Mustafi (on) – Boateng (off)
Big moment for the 22 year-old. Only brought into the squad after Marco Reus had to withdraw because of injury, he’s only got two caps to his name after making his debut last month. He’s with Sampdoria in Italy. I’m presuming it’s injury-related but we await confirmation on that.
Rihanna has impressed many with her World Cup analysis so far. Once again, she hits the nail on the head here.
51st minute – GOAL! Goetze!
Thomas Muller may not have scored this but he played a spectacular role in it. On the right side, he spotted the run from Goetze, drifting between two Ghana defenders. He curled in a magnificent cross that landed perfectly on Goetze’s forehead…but it wasn’t a clean header. Goetze shutting his eyes as he made contact, the ball was pushed downwards and came off his knee. It made little difference as it rippled the net.
54th minute – GOAL! Andre Ayew!
WOW! Well that’s incredible. Firstly, Ayew had just come on to replace Boateng and with his first touch, glanced a brilliant header beyond Neuer. But, like German’t opener, it was all about the cross. Harrison Afful with a delightful delivery, Ayew getting in front of Mustafi (who replaced Boateng) and scored his second of the tournament. Game on!!
Here’s the Goetze goal – certainly comes off his knee. They all count though.
But an incredible response from the Africans. Another pearl of a cross. Ayew, just on as a sub, does very well to finish this so impressively.
63rd minute – GOAL! Asamoah Gyan!
What a turnaround! The heat has really seemed to cause problems here in the last little while and Germany have been uncharacteristically slow and poor in possession. But it’s the ever-dependable Lahm who gives the ball away, Muntari intercepts and plays through Gyan in the right channel of the area. He settles himself and thumps his shot to the far corner. Wonderful composure. His 5th World Cup goal (was impressive four years ago).
66th minute – CLOSE! This is ridiculous. Ghana break again. Jordan Ayew heads towards goal with Gyan inside. But he goes for the glory himself and it’s easy for Neuer. Big chance.
70th minute – SUBSTITUTION! Klose (on) – Goetze (off)
Can the veteran inspire his side here? They were in dire need of fresh legs and it takes some of the pressure off Muller. Could equal Ronaldo’s World Cup goal-scoring record if he gets one.
70th minute – SUBSTITUTION! Schweinsteiger (on) – Khedira (off)
A double-change and Schweini lifts the German fans here. Can he lift his side though?
71st minute – GOAL! Klose!
THIS IS CRAZY! What did I say? The big man for the big occasion! He’s just on the park and with his first touch, he’s rescued Germany here. From the corner, there’s a flick-on towards goal and as it’s heading over the line, Klose sticks out a long leg to make absolutely sure. On second glance – it may have been sneaking just wide. Anyway, he wasn’t taking any chances. What a moment. What another astonishing half of football here.
I have to take a breather. I talked about the importance of substitutes but this is unbelievable. Firstly, Ayew with a superb header and then Klose. Germany can smell blood now. The fresh legs have really pushed them on.
Here’s how the Ghana players celebrated Gyan’s goal that put them 2-1 up. Just like four years ago, they’re making a lot of friends here.
Big moment for Germany. Big moment for Klose. 15 World Cup goals now for him.
83rd minute – Some half-chances for both teams. Jordan Ayew did well down the right side before being dispossessed while Ozil raced into the area and tried to set up a team-mate with a neat flick. But there was no-one there.
85th minute – CLOSE! Muller is played through the middle and is just looking to stab it home but Kwadwo Asamoah does brilliantly to get back and slide across just in time. Excellent defending.
86th minute – CLOSE! Germany looking increasingly dangerous here. Lovely scooped pass through for Ozil to run onto in the left channel. He races into the area and sends a low cross towards the far post – a last-ditch Ghana block puts it out for a corner with Klose hovering.
90th minute – Two chances within a matter of moments. Firstly, Gyan tries to sweep a low drive to the far corner from the right of the box but he pulls it too much and it’s wide. Then, Germany race up the other end with Klose played through. He looks for the bottom corner but misses by about a foot.
93rd minute – The last kick of the game here. Muntari has given away a ridiculous free-kick right on the edge of the area. What a chance for Germany this is.
93rd minute – CLOSE! Well, Toni Kroos almost tees it up perfectly for Muller. The attacker is watching it all the way and is about to glance it to the net when John Boye makes an heroic challenge and gets his head to it and clears. Muller smacks his face into Boye’s shoulder and lies on the ground, covered in blood.
FULL-TIME! And that’s that. My word. We spoke at half-time about the opening period not being that great but there was some immense, end-to-end entertainment after the restart. A key moment came in injury-time with Ghana racing clear in a three-on-two situation. Mubarek Wakaso was screaming for it and got it. But inexplicably had strayed into an offside position. A real let-off for Germany but 2-2 a fair result.
All this means that the group is intriguingly positioned. All four teams can still qualify and so much depends on the Portugal/USA game tomorrow night. With a win, USA can go through.
Stick around for plenty more reaction and analysis. Thanks for staying with us and, as always, for your comments.
