Ghana 2, Germany 2
This was, I think, perhaps the match of the tournament so far!
In a World Cup tournament full of shocks and upsets, Ghana very nearly pulled off a historical, epic-caliber win!
And ultimately, both Germany and Ghana played some of the best, most inspiring soccer/football that you are going to see. Watching this game was an illustration of everything that is attractive about the beautiful sport!
The story of the first half was of a frustrated Germany side seemingly unable to break through and score any goals to assert what should have seemed to be clear dominance of it's side, over a team that was generally considerably weaker. Most people were surprised that the teams headed off the field for the half locked in a scoreless tire.
It sure did not remain scoreless for long!
Germany's Mario Götze broke through in the 51st minute, giving Germany the 1-0 lead. Given that pretty much everyone expected Germany to win, it was all too easy to imagine a scenario where Germany essentially smothered Ghana the rest of the way, and perhaps scored another opportunistic goal, or two, to win the game easily. Then, the first half would have simply been seen as a scare, or as a moment when Germany was still shaking cobwebs, potentially.
But when Ghana's André Ayew got a beautiful header in the 54th minute to tie it right back up, only minutes after Germany had taken the lead, you began to realize that this was a very different game than the 4-0 drubbing that Germany handed Portugal.
This was going to be a real game!
Even more shocking, in the 63rd minute, Asamoah Gya broke through with a strong and well-placed, beautiful goal that beat Germany's goal keeper Shkodran Mustafi. The Germans were showing their frustration by that point, while Ghana's team did a funny dance in celebration that probably compared favorably to the Colombian team's Shakira dance a few days before.
Suddenly, it looked like a huge upset was in the making!
Germany was starting to attack with some measure of desperation, and you know just what Germany is capable of. And, sure enough, Miroslav Klose, Germany's all-time leading goal scorer, broke through in the 71st minute, kicking a header that itself might have been going in off of a corner kick, just making sure that Germany was able to get it to the back of the net, and tie the game up. Klose, who with this goal joined a very elite group of players who have scored goals in four different World Cups, celebrated by doing a flip, as German fans went wild, after going quiet during Ghana's comeback.
Both sides had some wonderful opportunities, especially in the second half. And despite both teams pressing, neither team was able to break through for what would have been the deciding goal and, frankly, that was fitting, because neither team deserved to walk off the field with a loss, after such a well played match.
What a match, displaying the best that this sport has to offer! Unpredictable, exciting, well-executed, and at times even humorous! This is what the World Cup is all about, and why everyone is raving about it!
Argentina 1, Iran 0
Much like with the Germany-Ghana game, this one looked like it was going to follow the trend of some major upsets thus far in the tournament.
The time of possession was dominated by Argentina, but that would be a deceptive statistic that does not truly tell the story of what happened on the field on this day.
Argentina was frustrated, and continually unable to really get anything going. Usually, they are able to create opportunities, and capitalize on these. And considering that Iran appeared to be a cakewalk for this team, a pushover that the Argentinians could breeze through on their way to bigger and better things, this game really was a huge scare for the superior Argentinian side.
In fact, Iran essentially outplayed Argentina throughout regular time. They had the better quality scoring opportunities, and seemed so close to converting an opportunity and taking that all-important 1-0 lead, but always fell just short of it.
Still, it seemed like they were at least heading to what seemed almost impossible: a draw against Argentina, one of the truly elite nations in the world in this sport.
Unfortunately for Iran, however, they allowed a left-footed goal by Messi in the first minute of extra time to allow Argentina to barely escape with a win, and preserve their perfect record so far in this World Cup.
Iran pressed after that, desperately trying to get something. But Argentina's defense held, and Argentina managed to win a game in which they played far from their best football, which itself is a sign of how good this team might be.
Nigeria 1, Bosnia-Herzegovina 0
Nigeria's Peter Odemwingie was able to break through with a nicely placed shot that beat goal keeper Asmir Begovic, providing Nigeria with the 1-0 lead.
It was the only bit of scoring in a game where Bosnia-Herzegovina won the time of possession battle, but was unable to convert any chances into goals.
That said, here was some controversy, because Edin Dzeko did manage to score a goal in the 21st minute for Bosnia-Herzegovina that was discounted because it was ruled offside. Had the goal counted, one wonders just how much it might have changed the complexion of the game. It remained one of the big controversies in the game's aftermath.
The win ended a 16-year drought for Nigeria in terms of winning a World Cup game, and keeps them in contention for the elimination round.
In the meantime, Bosnia-Herzegovina was knocked out of contention for the elimination round with the loss to Nigeria.
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