Germany vs. Ghana – Goals aplenty expected in Fortaleza
Germany will be out to avoid a repeat of their second game at the 2010 world cup when they take on Ghana on Saturday. On that occasion, the German’s opened their campaign with a 4-0 win over Australia only to lose 1-0 to Serbia in the next match.
This time their opening result was even more high profile, with their 4-0 success over Portugal ranking amongst the best outcomes of the opening round of matches.
Ghana meanwhile are fighting for their world cup lives. The Black stars went down 2-1 to the USA in their opening match and a defeat on Saturday would all but end their world cup.
Team News:
Germany will assess Mats Hummels before the game after he came off during the win over Portugal with a thigh injury while Ghana expect to have Michael Essien fit after he injured his toe against the USA.
Key men most likely to score
Thomas Muller: If there is to be German scorer then it is hard to bet against this man. The Bayern star loves scoring at world cups. He announced his arrival on the big stage four years ago when he scored 5 goals at South Africa and he has a good chance to emulating, even improving on that tally after scoring a hat-trick in his opening game. A “false 9” he may be in name but Muller has shown in recent years that he is able to operate as an effective forward.
Asamoah Gyan: Like Muller, the selection of Gyan might seem obvious but it is for a reason. He is his country’s all-time top scorer with 40 goals and is also their captain. He knows how to score on the big international stage too. In 2006, his first world cup he scored one goal and four years later in South Africa scored 4. In all Ghana have lost just four games in which he has scoredPrediction:
This will be the third official meeting between the two sides with Ghana yet to claim a victory. They first met in 1993 when two goals apiece form Stefan Effenberg and Jurgen Klinsmann helped the Germans to a 6-1 win. Four years ago they met again but the score-line was more respectable on this occasion as a Mesut Ozil goal saw the German’s home 1-0.
Manager Joachim Low will be keen to avoid a repeat of 4 years and with that in mind they should have enough in the thanks. A 0-0 draw between Mexico and Brazil and the results of Costa Rica aside, World Cup 2014 has been all about the favourites and that should continue.
In contrast to the South African world cup, the 2014 edition has been all about goals and with that in mind.
