By Ebenezer Zor
 |
| philipp lahm- germany |
This is
another group of death whose fate lies in the gods of the tournament.Three times winners in 1972, 1980, 1986, Die Mannschaft "The
Team" of Germany
paired in GROUP G with the Os
Navegadores (The Navigators) of Portugal who secured third spot in the 1966 world hosted
by England, The Black Stars of Ghana and the Yanks from USA. Germany is back
in business; their tails firmly up after two successive third place slots eight
years ago in both Germany and South Africa respectively. Portugal, a squad as
decent and highly experienced will be making the sixth appearances since its first in
1966. With four African titles to their name, The Stars are a side accustomed
to life at the top and have the talents, strength in depth, the individual
brilliance in key areas and the mental strength require shocking other
participating countries. The Yanks of USA third in 1930 edition will be making
their tenth appearances and having lost to Ghana in the last two meetings at the world face
from the group stages in 2006 and 2010, may seek for vengeance. They will be
hoping to go beyond the group phase and progress to even more to the final berth of
the tournament.
Group G matches to be honored.
Date Time Match 13 Venue
16/6/14 13:00 Germany V
Portugal-Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador
Match 14
Match 29
21/6/14 16:00 Germany V Ghana -
Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza
Match 30
22/6/14 19:00 USAV Portugal -
Arena Amazônia, Manaus
Match 45
26/6/14 13:00 USA V Germany-
Arena Pernambuco, Recife
Match 46
26/6/ 14 13:00 Portugal V Ghana
-Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília
PREDICTION: Having experience far more
downs than ups in recent years, the team seems to have finally come together,
thanks largely to the astute management of Akwasi Appiah for being the first indigenous to qualify
the Black Stars of Ghana to a world cup. The former Captain has given the Black
Stars a
renewed sense of purpose but the biggest question seem to be whether or not the
strikers have enough goals in them to carry Ghana beyond the group stage.
Akwasi Appiah now faces the hardest task guiding the country to its successive
world cup. How far will USA? Not many will be surprise if they are on the first
plane home, but it would be unwise to write them off completely. You can never
say Germany is not a contender to win the world cup, but the bottom line is
that they will have to play out to their skin to deny both Ghana and Portugal.
