OT: World Cup Day 5 Open Thread
Group G
Germany - Portugal 12pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
Group F
Iran - Nigeria 3pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
Group G
USMNT - Ghana 6pm EDT (ESPN / Univision / Watch ESPN)
I realize there will likely be a separate Open Thread for the USMNT match but I've listed it here as well.
@AndrewDasNYT:
Natal officials tell @samborden they expect as many as 20K USMNT fans at game tonight. In a stadium that holds less than 40K.
Honestly, I would hope that would be the case. I'm not sure how many Ghanaians can afford to travel to Brazil and buy tickets at World Cup prices, but it's probably far fewer than the number of Americans that can.
I think AO filled two 737's with AO Members for their tour, which includes in-country flights to all three matches. 20,000 tickets in that venue is pretty incredible, though.
I believe most tickets sold outside Brazil were in the United States. Should be an incredible atmosphere.
US sold second most tickets. Only Brazil sold more tickets.
And they've been treating the US fans like royalty for getting them into the tournament. I've got a number of friends who've said the Mexican fans have bought beers and shouted praise and thanks to the US.
It should be a home game for the US except for the Ghanian fans and the First Round NCAA Tournament type fans that just root for the underdog or smaller school.
Good to hear that about the Mexican fans. They should be thanking us for years to come.
USA is 0-2 against Ghana, I don't think Ghana is the underdog here.
The crowd has really turned on Ronaldo.
Looks like he tweaked his groin
Portugal is about to lose another member of the back 4 and starting 11.
Coentrao down with what appears to be a groin injury. I'm really not sure how this can get any worse for Portugal.
I don't want him hurt, just some type of semi permanent blemish.
That's a hamstring gone for Coentrao. He's probably been Portugal's best player today.
He definitely doesn't look to be playing in 6 days.
Judging by how he looked like he was rubbing his balls.
Either way, both are nagging injuries that if you pull them, it's tough to recover from. And you're not recovering in 6 days.
If it's a little tweak then maybe, but in soccer, those have to be huge injuries.
And Ronaldo is still in...I'll take it.
A couple missed chances for Germany. Oh well.
Because if we get a draw with Germany and both win the other 2...I want us to win the Group off GD.
Then win our Round of 16 match and I will be in Maracana watching US play on the frickin 4th of July. #AMURICA
Ok, you have a good point. I was thinking the most likely senario is that German beats everyone in the group and the US will have to rely on GD to beat out the other teams for the second spot. But yeah, if the US can beat Ghana AND Portugal and go into the Germany match with both teams already moving on...well let's not get ahead of ourselves.
That doesn't look good for Hummels.
That's a penalty.
I wanted to see Ronaldo's head asplode though.
Hat Trick and MOTM for Muller.
That guy is scary looking. He reminds me of the bad guy in Mulan.
https://www.google.com/search?q=shan+yu+mulan&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=is…
Muller is only 24, he's got 1, probably 2 more of these things. I didn't realize he was still so young.
Man, the grass in the boxes is already getting chewed up. I can't imagine how some of these fields are going to look in a month's time. The title game might be played on a Wimbledon-like surface.
So that went about as well as we could've dreamed right? Portugal lost my four goals. We should be very happy right?
BEAT GHANA!
3pm EDT KO from Curitiba
Nigeria
Enyeama (c), Ambrose, Oshaniwa, Oboabona, Omeruo, Mikel, Onazi, Azeez, Musa, Moses, Emenike
Iran
Haghighi, Heydari, Haji Safi, Hosseini, Sadeghi, Nekounam (c), Timotian, Montazeri, Ghoochannejad, Dejagah, Pooladi
GOOOO...ah, Nigeria?
@IanDarke: No Michael Essien for Ghana v USA it seems - or Boateng we hear
Huge development.
Ghana starting 11 from the Ghana FA website.
Ghana Starting XI
Adam Kwarasey, Daniel Opare, Kwadwo Asamoah, Jonathan Mensah, John Boye, Rabiu Mohammed, Christian Atsu, Sulley Muntari, Jordan Ayew, Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew.
This team is set up to play counterattack. Essien and KPB aren't the quickest, so I expect quite a bit of pressing and counterattack. The problem is what happens when the pressing leaves gaps in the midfield, which a saavy player such as Essien would prevent. I'm very indifferent about the squad. Essien or KPB won't make the difference between Ghana beating or losing to the U.S. I'm also getting tired of the hype for this game. "Nemesis", "Vanquish" "Redemption". OK, ESPN. Ghana and the U.S. aren't rivals, regardless of tonight's result. I just want the game to be played (with Ghana winning, of course) so the ridiculous hyping of this game ends.
Just leave this country commie. We are in America, so you root for the old bars and stripes.
Hey a fellow Ghanaian supporter, thought I was the only one.