Wednesday’s games were as exciting and important as Tuesday’s games with four of the teams going home and four other teams survive to battle another match living through the same pressure and breath taking moments as before.
Team USA celebrates after a last minute goal which insured their place in the World Cup Last 16
Two of the first games on Tuesday consisted of Slovenia Vs. England and USA Vs. Algeria with all four teams having the chance to go through to the knock out stages. The Slovenia Vs. England Match finished as expected with England triumphing over the Slovenians with a 1-0 victory.
However England’s football was far from convincing and went through a very stressful time with the Slovakians unfortunate to make it 1-1 especially towards the end of the game. Ronney’s substitution was also a worrying signal of the Manchester United stars lack of performance at the World Cup.
The United States who managed to go to the finals of the Confederation Cup in 2009 also required a win against Algeria to guarantee their spot in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Though both teams were very competitive, the USA were able to secure a 1-0 win which they scored on the 92nd minute of a four minute extra time surprisingly just after Algeria missed a good chance.
USA completed Group C in first position while England came second with five points again and though both teams had the same goal difference, because the USA scored more goals, they were on top of England. Slovenia completed Group C on four points and Algeria finished fourth with one point.
The next two games that were played later on Wednesday evening were between Ghana Vs. Germany and Australia Vs. Serbia and again like Group C, all the teams in Group D had a chance to go to the last 16 of the competition.
To the contrary of what was thought before the Ghana Vs. Germany game unfolded, the European side struggled against Ghana. The African nation played with great passion and missed a few glorious chances before conceding a goal which was brilliantly scored by Turkish born Mesut Özil in the second half.
Meanwhile the Australia Vs. Serbia game was very exciting with the Aussie’s getting back to themselves and beating the European side 2-1. I’m sure that the Australian side was missing Harry Kewell after the influential forward had received a red card while playing against Ghana last week.
Group D finished with Germany on top with six points while Ghana came second on four points. Australia also completed the group, joint with Ghana but the Aussies 4-0 defeat in their opening game against Germany came to haunt them as Ghana were on top with superior goal difference. Serbia finished the group last with three points.
World Cup last 16 knock out stage
USA will now face Ghana in the last 16 on 26 June and England will face Germany on the 27th of June which is expected to be an early final.
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