2010 FIFA World Cup Group Stage Review: Group D, Ghana Vs Germany

For a start, Germany were not impressive by any means. Yet, they did exactly what was expected of them. They scored a very important goal and did not concede. And... isn't Mesut Oezil the newest "wunderkind" of German football?

The Match

The game was cagey and not very good on the eye. Ghana and Germany spurned some chances. Mesut Oezil broke the deadlock in the second half with a strike from the edge of the penalty area.

The Positives

Bastian Schweinsteiger distributed the ball well. Manuel Neuer was fantastic and managed to deny the Ghanaians on quite a few occasions. His distribution was very good as well.

Philipp Lahm did exactly what a captain should do: he led by example. He cleared the ball off the line following a header from Asamoah Gyan. He managed to stop another goal-ward shot with his foot at the last moment. He defended coolly throughout the game.

Mesut Oezil finally arrived on the big stage. Having missed a hatful of chances in the friendlies leading up to the World Cup and in the first group game against Australia, he finally scored. He was unable to beat the keeper in a one-on-one situation but managed to beat the whole Ghanaian defence later.

Marcell Jansen and Toni Kroos both played well when they came on. Jerome Boateng performed better than Holger Badstuber and managed to stay away from the referee.

The referee managed to put in a good performance despite his previously dismal records.

The Negatives

Let's start with the wingers: Lukas Podolski and Thomas Mueller. Neither of them managed to hit a good cross tonight. Their through-balls almost always found a Ghanaian player. They always took one step too much and went too close to the bye-line before passing or shooting.

Sami Khedira and Bastian will have to be more wary of attacks from the opposing side in their remaining match(es). Arne Friedrich managed to make a few good tackles; yet he and Per Mertesacker need to be more aware of what's going on around them. They need to pull up for the next game.

Germany badly missed a target man in Miroslav Klose today. Cacau was really caught out by the Black Stars defence and the only time he caught the eye was with a long range effort which was saved by Kingson.

In Conclusion

There are no two ways about it; Germany have to pull up ahead of their next game against the English. The English are not performing greatly, but that should be of no concern to Germany. At the moment, though Germany are in the round of 16... again... but they, especially Joachim Loew, has plenty to think about.

I will end with a quote from Mesut Oezil:

"I simply shot the ball. I had a lot of support from my teammates. It doesn't matter whom we play next, we have to keep winning."