Germany 1, United States 0
Portugal 2, Ghana 1
Belgium 1, South Korea 0
Algeria 1, Russia 1
- The United States looked horribly overmatched in the first 5-10 minutes of this game. Germany was essentially playing with the Americans, holding possession for approximately 90-95% of that time.
After that the US picked things up and looked good. Sure Germany was carrying play, but Germany will carry play against the vast majority of teams in this tournament. But the US was countering fairly well and even looking a little dangerous (well, until they got to the 18-yard line, then they seemed a bit stuck). I had great hope at halftime that the US was showing enough to convince Germany to play for the tie if they could get to the 65th-70th minute without conceding.
Then Germany came out at halftime with Klose upfront, and everything changed. Now Germany's crosses had someone there to make something of them. Now Germany pressed the US all over the field, and the US defenders and midfielders didn't handle it well. After one or two passes a touch would be mishit, and Gemany would be back on the attack.
On the one hand, it was disappointing to give up the goal off of a set piece (corner kick), as that's something the US should have been in position to defend better. On the other hand, Germany stretched the US so much in the first 30 minutes of the second half that the US was lucky to just be down 1-0.
Apparently the lost luggage department of the Brazilian airport works very slowly, as Michael Bradley's first touch still hasn't caught up with him since leaving the States. Frankly, it's amazing the US emerged from the group of death with Bradley not playing well.
Omar Gonzalez played a very good game, especially considering he hadn't started any game in a couple of months. That's a great sign for the US going forward.
Finally, thank you Cristiano.
- This game featured plenty of brilliance from Cristiano, but it was too little, too late. Portugal failed to advance because they collapsed against Germany's counter-attacking in their first game of this World Cup. If they don't let the Germans hang 4 goals on them, they probably advance.
- South Korea completes an extremely disappointing World Cup for the Asian federation. South Korea and Japan had good opportunities to advance, and they came up with 2 points and a -7 goal differential combined. Plus South Korea displayed some of the worst goalkeeping I've seen on this stage in allowing Algeria to score 4 goals against them.
- But when we're talking poor goalkeeping, Russia takes the cake. From their keeper's Robert Green-level gaffe in the first game against South Korea (ended in a 1-1 draw) to his inability to read a cross correctly leading to Algeria's lone goal in this game (also a 1-1 draw), you could make the argument that Russia would be going through right now with even an average performance from their keeper.
Updated Tables
A reminder: the number in parentheses next to each team name is the latest FIFA World Ranking.
Qualified for Knockout Round: Netherlands (B1), Chile (B2), Colombia (C1), Costa Rica (D1), Argentina (F1), Belgium (H1), Brazil (A1), Mexico (A2), Uruguay (D2), Greece (C2), Nigeria (F2), France (E1), Switzerland (E2), Germany (G1), United States (G2), Algeria (H2)
Eliminated from the Knockout Round: Cameroon, Australia, Spain, England, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Italy, Iran, Ecuador, Honduras, Portugal, Ghana, Russia, South Korea
|
GROUP A
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Brazil (3)
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
2
|
7
|
|
Mexico (20)
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
7
|
|
Croatia (18)
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
6
|
3
|
|
Cameroon (56)
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
-8
|
1
|
9
|
0
|
|
GROUP B
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Netherlands (15)
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
10
|
3
|
9
|
|
Chile (14)
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
6
|
|
Spain (1)
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
-3
|
4
|
7
|
3
|
|
Australia (62)
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
-6
|
3
|
9
|
0
|
|
GROUP C
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Colombia (8)
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
9
|
2
|
9
|
|
Greece (12)
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-2
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
|
Ivory Coast (23)
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
-1
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
|
Japan (46)
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
-4
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
|
GROUP D
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Costa Rica (28)
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
7
|
|
Uruguay (7)
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
6
|
|
Italy (9)
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
-1
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
|
England (10)
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
-2
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
|
GROUP E
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
France (17)
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
8
|
2
|
7
|
|
Switzerland (6)
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
|
Ecuador (26)
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
|
Honduras (33)
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
-7
|
1
|
8
|
0
|
|
GROUP F
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Argentina (5)
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
6
|
3
|
9
|
|
Nigeria (44)
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
|
Bosnia-Herzegovina (21)
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
|
Iran (43)
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
-3
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
GROUP G
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Germany (2)
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
2
|
7
|
|
United States (13)
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
|
Portugal (4)
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-3
|
4
|
7
|
4
|
|
Ghana (37)
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
-2
|
4
|
6
|
1
|
|
GROUP H
|
||||||||
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
|
Belgium (11)
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
9
|
|
Algeria (22)
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
5
|
4
|
|
Russia (19)
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
-1
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
|
South Korea (57)
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
-3
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
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