Day 30 - BRONZE METTLE
Germany outduels a memorable Uruguay team to finish in 3rd place at the 2010 World Cup.

July 10, 2010
by Dan Krier


Germany 3 - Uruguay 2

For the second straight World Cup tournament, Germany took home the 3rd place trophy, this time winning Saturday’s consolation game against Uruguay in comeback fashion by the score of 3-2.

Playing in constant rainfall in the southern city of Port Elizabeth, the contest featured wide-open football for the full 90 minutes with neither team having much to lose.

Absent from the match with flu-like symptoms was German forward Miroslav Klose, who fans were hoping to see break the record for all-time goals scored, something he would have done had he played and scored two. So without their 32 year-old star, the Germans featured a relatively-new lineup, one that performed exactly the same as the old formation did…successfully.

Thankfully, the match was anything but boring, with goals coming early and often. First it was Germany striking with a 19th minute rope of a shot from 35 yards away by Bastian Schweinsteiger, the ball thumping off the chest of Uruguay goalie Fernando Muslera for a wide-open rebound score by Thomas Mueller and a 1-0 Germany lead.

For the 20 year-old Mueller, it was his fifth goal of the 2010 World Cup, something that will surely bring him the honor of Best Young Player of the tournament.

Back came Uruguay in the 28th minute, when Edinson Cavani took a pass from Luis Suarez up the left side on a break-away and sent in a toe-poke grounder for his first goal of the 2010 World Cup and a 1-1 tie, where things stayed until halftime.

Not too far into the second half, the never-say-die Uruguayans found more wizardry from the foot of Diego Forlan, who cooked up a legendary sideways volley that bounced hard into the turf before skidding past helpless German goalie Hans-Jorg Butt for a 2-1 Uruguay lead and Forlan’s fifth goal of the World Cup.

But sadly for the lone South American team left standing, Germany’s best trait is scoring goals, and just five minutes later in the 56th minute, a long cross from right to left from Jerome Boateng swung through traffic and was headed in by Marcell Jansen for the 2-2 tie. It was a highly unlikely combination during open play being that both men are defenders.

From that point on, the Germans seemed to be in command, finally putting away their adversaries in the 83rd minute on a corner kick that bounced through the box before being headed into the top-right corner of the net by 23 year-old midfielder Sami Khedira for his first-ever goal for his country and the 3-2 lead.

As the match reached its final seconds, Diego Forlan had an opportunity to tie things up with a 20-yard free kick, but his shot on goal deflected off the top left of the crossbar, ending the game and a wondrous run for Uruguay, a team that far exceeded expectations in every way possible. Congrats to them, and also to the Germans, who proved once again that they are one of the best football-playing countries in the world year after year after year.

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Day 16 - DEAD & GHANA
Americans can’t come back twice in one game as Ghana goes on to the quarterfinals. Uruguay continues to impress in win over South Korea.

June 26, 2010
by Dan Krier


Ghana 2 - USA 1

The USA had made a habit of falling behind early before coming back in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and again they accomplished this feat on Saturday night.

Unfortunately for the team, they committed the sin of surrendering a second goal in the beginning stages of extra time, falling to Ghana 2-1 in a Round of 16 match held in Rustenburg.

Yes, it was yet another case of deja vu (yes…it was ANOTHER case of deja vu) for the boys in red, white, & blue, who today saw midfielder Ricardo Clark give a ball away at midfield that was quickly converted into Ghana’s first goal, just 5 minutes into the match.

The steal off Clark’s foot was immediately passed to a motoring Kevin-Prince Boateng, who burnt through the American defensive unit and fired a low grounder that smoked its way around US goalie Tim Howard and into the back left side of the net for the 1-0 lead.

It was the exact last thing the Americans could afford to do, yet well in line with what fans had come to expect.

But on the other side of this coin is the customary comebacks by Uncle Sam’s Army, and today was no different in that respect either. The US battled hard throughout the first half to regain their composure, turning the tide early in the second half by coming out of the lockers with confidence and a determination to get even.

They did just that on a 62nd-minute penalty kick by Landon Donovan, who scored his third goal of the tournament after Clint Dempsey was upended illegally in the penalty box on what was the sixth or seventh American charge toward the Ghanaian goal in a just-over ten-minute span.

The remainder of the second half saw several opportunities for the USA to get a go-ahead goal, but nothing materialized and the game headed into the mandatory 30-minute extra period.

Ghana only needed two and a half of those minutes, because in the 93rd, striker Asamoah Gyan controlled a long bounder and shouldered his way into the American box before connecting on a wonderful left-foot liner that shaved off whatever stubble was left on Howard’s scalp, the game 2-1 with grim reality setting in for the USA.

This time there was no extra comeback, and Ghana did well to control posession and stall whenever possible to make it to the final whistle.

With the win, Ghana will move on to face upstart Uruguay in the quarterfinals on July 2nd. The USA will head home to ponder what could have been, but really, there can be no huge complaints. The team made it out of the group stage, and did their country proud in the process. Perhaps next time around, the issues with early goal giveaways will be resolved.

If not, there will be more of the same heartbreak.

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Uruguay 2 - South Korea 1

You can start calling him “Super” Suarez.

Uruguay’s scorching forward Luis Suarez netted both goals with his fantastic right foot Saturday afternoon in Port Elizabeth, putting Uruguay back on the world soccer map as his team held on to defeat a dogged South Korea 2-1 Saturday in a wet windy downpour.

Diego Forlan played a prominent role for the third straight match, assisting on the game’s first goal with a snaking cross from left to right that burned a trail behind the last defenders, evading South Korean goalkeeper Sung-Ryong Jung but making its way right to Suarez, who popped in the tight-angle shot for a 1-0 Uruguay lead. Beautiful execution on both ends.

The game quickly made its way to the second half with the same score, and it seemed like a foregone conclusion to mark the Uruguayans down for the quarterfinals. But South Korea had other ideas, scoring on a bouncing ball that was headed in amongst great defensive confusion by Chung-Yong Lee in the 68th minute for the 1-1 tie.

That’s when the rain began to fall in sheets, and that’s when Uruguay took the game back under their command.

In the 80th minute, Suarez gained control of the ball at the outer left corner of the penalty area, cutting back and unleashing an impossible bender that looked like a baseball curveball, hooking left and down before finding the back of the net for his second goal of the game and a 2-1 Uruguay lead.

The 1930 & 1950 World Cup Champions are back in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1970, and it’s no fluke. They have a very real ability to move even farther thanks to the superior play by forwards Forlan and Suarez.

Respect to South Korea, who can’t be sad about making it out of group play for just the second time in team history.


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