Ghana - Germany Stadium: Soccer City Stadium, Jo'burg, South Africa Match Time: 1830 GMT, June 23, 2010
Stat of the day: Germany have won their final group matches in the last four World Cup tournaments, without conceding a single goal in the last three
At the moment Milovan Rajevac's side are top of Group D with four points from two matches. A draw with Germany will be enough to see us through regardless of the result between Australia and Serbia.
Superior?
You can feel the pressure in the German camp. A draw will not be enough for them to go through. That means we must battle this one to the death.
At the back, John Mensah is said to be in good condition and will play. So is Isaac Vorsah. Mensah says he and his lads do not feel any pressure:
“I don’t think there is pressure on us.
“They will probably have more pressure because they are favourites. We all know Germany has a good team, but we believe we have a good team as well. We have to keep things tight, stay compact and I’m sure we can win the match."
John Panstil is ok, after the bloody injury he got at the end of the last game.
Their mindset of being superior in their gameplay may make them overzealous and that's where we need to be calm and levelheaded. No outbursts, no swearing and no gesticulations. Just be cool and collected.
Keep the dude in number 8 on lockdown! Getty Images
Mesut Ozil is the man to watch continuously. Don't be fooled by his lazy style, he is as dangerous as he is wily. Ozil is the classic trequartista, in the mould of Totti, Baggio and Maradona.
Ozil was silenced by the Serbian midfield and was unable to make his mark on the game. That's what we must do.
Cacau will likely start in place of the suspended Miroslav Klose. He is not as lethal as Klose, but he is good. No doubt about that. If not, Stefan Kiessling will be utilized, although i doubt it.
Ghana can go through the group even if we lose, that is if Serbia win vs Australia.
Refereeing has been a fine mess in this tournament so far and I'm hoping the Brazilian ref in the middle would be good.
I expect Germany to fall under the least tackle and try to simulate. They are that desperate and would try everything in the book to get past us.
KPB
The hype surrounding the Kevin-Prince Boateng connection is annoying, frankly. It has the tendency to distract the young man from the job at hand.
He told kickoff:
"I made a decision from my head but now my heart is 100 per cent Ghanaian now. My head and my heart is a 100 per cent Ghanaian."
"For me I think every game is the same. Of course for me the Germany game will be special but if you are on the field it will be like any game of 90 minutes where you want to make one goal more than the other team."
Good thing that is the case, because news that he is not on speaking terms with Jerome doesnt bode well for familial relations.
At the end of the day, Ghana must get out of Group D alive.
Coach Rajevac knows that, and I think we will be seeing a lot of Ghana's tight defensive play that we witnessed during the Nations' Cup earlier this year. He told kickoff:
“We will have to make sure that first we don't concede a goal."
"I am not saying we are going to get defensive; of course we will look to score and we will try many possibilities, but the fact is that if we don't concede a goal, if it ends goalless, we are through and that is what I am focused on. I want what is best for Ghana in this situation.”
Simply stated: by hook, or by crook, we must win.
POLL:
I've been asking you what you think the end of Group D will look like. I'm closing it tomorrow just before the games begin, so keep 'em coming!
Muntari
PS: You may have heard about Sulley Muntari. Yes, it's true.
For the fourth time in his national team career, he displayed his unchained arrogance. After being used sparingly in this tournament, Muntari banged lockers, threw tantrums and insulted the younger members of the squad because he felt he must have a bigger role.
Milovan Rajevac, yesterday, told the Ghana FA that he did not want Sulley in the camp, but as ever, the senior players intervened on his behalf. The FA came up with this press statement saying that the Inter player has apologised and is still part of the team.
What do I think? He should have been given an Anelka, if you know what I mean.
