The old order was restored today at the World Cup as favorites continued to pile into the knockout stage.
England and the United States qualified this afternoon, squeezing past Slovenia and Algeria by the same scoreline, 1-0. The manner in which they did it, however, was quite different. The English went ahead relatively early thanks to Jermain Defoe and then struggled to shut down Slovenia as the game wore on. The Americans continued their trend of pulling out miracles with a goal in second-half stoppage time from Landon Donovan.
In the late games, Germany beat Ghana 1-0, a result that allowed both teams to progress. Australia beat Serbia 2-1 in a game that didn’t really tumble into gear until the second half.
With today’s results, the pairings for this weekend are set: USA gets a chance to avenge its 2006 ouster from the Cup at the hands of Ghana on Saturday in Rustenberg and England will face old rivals Germany at the Free State on Sunday.
Germany began this tournament as a favorite to win the whole thing, and while it has not looked as slick as Argentina or even as driven as the Americans, it got the result needed to finish atop of their group with a solid if nervous win tonight over a stout Ghanaian side.
Mesut Oezil scored the game’s only goal of the night right on the hour mark at Soccer City Stadium, capitalizing on a rare positional mistake by a Ghana side that frequently looked sharper and more positive. After a patient bit of buildup from the Germans that pulled the Ghana back line too far to the near flank, Oezil uncorked a left-footed shot from the top of the box that was in the net before Richard Kingson could react.
It was perhaps just for a player who has been one of the most consistent contributors for this team, but it was hardly deserved on the run of play. Germany tonight seemed to suffer from timidity, playing an almost nervous game that was certainly impacted by Ghana’s tendency to ram into any man carrying the ball.
Ghana, though looking more attractive, couldn’t turn style into results. Andre Ayew and Matthew Amoah both had their chances tonight, with Ayew particularly frustrated by 'keeper Manuel Neuer. Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger were forced to do far more of the heavy work in the back than they would have liked given that Ghana was too often able to exploit Arne Friedrich on the flank.
In the end, German predictability won out over flair. But there have to be questions about both teams: after a fine start, the Germans look to be suffering from fatigue. Ghana, on the other hand, has yet to score in open play. Both teams can dazzle, but that glitz hasn’t resulted in results.
If the Germans looked timid at times, Serbia appeared downright unable to handle the tension in their match with Australia. Instead of chasing the win that would have qualified them into the final 16, the Serbs spent the first half setting a walking pace that allowed the Aussies to gain confidence and midfield possession. You’d have thought that the Serbs didn’t even study Germany’s quick-passing clinic against Australia in the first group game, because the Serbs’ build-up was so laborious as to be painful to watch.
Level at intermission, the Aussies came out a different bunch after the interval. And when Tim Cahill and Brett Holman scored twice in a four-minute span midway through the half, there must have been some Socceroos faithful who believed in miracles. With about 20 minutes left the fact was that another goal for Australia and one more for Germany would have qualified Pim Verbeek’s men in an unbelievable story.
It didn’t happen, of course, because substitute Marko Pantelic pounced on a Mark Schwarzer fumble to make it 2-1 and launch a desperate late Serbian rally. Had the Serbs approached the first 45 minutes the way they played the final 10, perhaps they would have advanced.
Instead, it paid for its own lack of conviction and Australia had a victory to savor.
American fans by now have learned to stock up on Tums. If there ever was a team that waits until the last possible minute to get the job done, it’s this group of guys. Tonight, at Loftus Versfeld, the Yanks unwisely let an Algerian side that everyone knows cannot score have more of the ball.
It will not be remembered as a vintage performance. The Americans should have blown by a visibly fatigued Algerian side that saw its best chance blast off the crossbar in the sixth minute. Some American conspiracy theorists will argue that, in fact, the Yanks did, only to be robbed by another poor decision. In a sick-making replay of their game against Slovenia, Clint Dempsey seemed to have a perfectly good goal in the 21st waved off for offside. TV replays seem to indicate that the Fulham man was in fact onside.
That cannot excuse the fact that the American midfield failed to control this game in the manner that they well should have. Algeria showed no ability to control the ball in the final third and little first touch; yet an off game from Maurice Edu and another erratic outing from a makeshift back line kept giving the North Africans more time and space than they had truly earned.
At the same time, you always sensed that an American goal would come against a team that was slowly but surely being compressed. Except, that goal stubbornly refused to come. Raid Ouheb M'bolhi had a fabulous game in the nets tonight for Algeria, stopping shot after shot. Dempsey saw two gilt-edged opportunities slip by, as he rocked one off the post.
And then, in the 91st minute, it finally came. Mbolhi could not gather a shot by Dempsey, and Donovan was there to put it in. His teammates smothered him at the corner flag, a giant, seething ball of white jerseys and joy.
There’s another thing to note about this game: as the clock ticked down, and it became obvious in the stands that Slovenia were not going to pull one back against England, you could see the tension level rise among the traveling supporters. These fans were involved and riveted — clearly there for the sport and not for the show. If this World Cup has any greater meaning in America, it’s that today’s game can be offered as conclusive proof that the sport has grown up over here. People do care.
England also gave its legion of supporters a worrisome time despite producing a very good first hour. Wayne Rooney was a force up front, the English backs had time to play the ball and David James was rarely troubled over that opening 60 minutes, but Fabio Capello’s men were unable to kill off the game with a second strike.
Rooney hit a post and Defoe had some ill luck in front after scoring a very good one that actually proved the match-winner. There was no reason to believe that offensively-challenged Slovenia could get one back in that spell.
England, however, is apparently not a confident side and when Rooney came off their demeanor changed dramatically. Although James was never forced to be special in goal his lines were kept under pressure. At one spell, Slovenia had three shots blocked inside the 12-yard area and near the end it took a last-gasp Matthew Upson clearance to keep things 1-0.
The final whistle brought real drama. England celebrated and the Slovenes, apparently aware that Donovan had scored for the USA at just that moment, looked like men whose Christmas presents had been seized.
England did not play well enough to dispel the thoughts that Fabio Capello’s men are not as advertised. Slovenia finished as expected, a second-tier European side not good enough to advance.
Tomorrow
We begin with Paraguay vs. New Zealand from Polokwane and Slovakia vs. Italy over at Ellis Park at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The nightcap is Denmark vs. Japan at Rustenberg and Cameroon vs. Netherlands from Capetown at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Away from your TV? Follow along on FoxSoccer.com or via Twitter (@championsonfox and @fsctv).
Must-see TV
It’s almost all must-see at this point; only the Cameroon-Holland game is dead unless you think that Dutch are going to risk players on taking first place in the group, which they can with a tie. The Denmark-Japan game is pretty much win or go home, and that’s the one to keep an eye on.
The early group games are pretty wild: Every team is alive, and Paraguay is assured of winning the group with a win, and progressing with either a win or a draw. Everyone else basically needs to play to win. For neutrals, this means the games should be wide open.
