Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
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Germany destroyed Portugal; USA got the better of Ghana
Day 5 of the World Cup started with a great matchup between Germany and
Portugal. The fans were waiting to see an exciting game between the two contenders. Unfortunately for the fans, it was a one-side German
affair. The German submarine completely took control of the game after a PK by Mueller to put Germany 1-0 in the score sheet. Portugal
were basically dead and they could not do anything against the ultimate German driving machine. It was great football by Germany, an
efficient way of playing the game that allows them to destroy their opponent and today the Germans demolished the Portuguese.
As the game continued, Germany seemed to get stronger and stronger and Hummels on a header scored for Germany
to increase the score 2-0. To make matters worse, Pepe was ejected from the game after hitting Muller with his head. Few minutes later
before the end of the first half, Muller made it 3-0. The game was over for Portugal before it was really over. Cristiano Ronaldo could
not do much for his national team; he tried but the Germans were too much and too powerful for the Portuguese who succumbed 0-4 to a
powerful German national team.
Germany today showed that they are definitely a contender and they are determined to get to the World Cup Final
by humiliating their opponents. My prediction for this game was Germany 2 and Portugal 1. That was a great win for Germany.
The second game was between Iran and Nigeria. I would have to say that Nigeria were completely
a disappointment. I predicted them to beat IRAN 3-0 but that was not the case. The best players in that game were the goalies. Both
teams had some chances but the goalies did very well to earn 1 point from each other. Besides, it was a battle among those two teams
though I had expected much more from Nigeria.
The final game of the day was between the United States of America and Ghana. And, we in the United States,
were anxiously waiting for that game. My prediction for that game was USA 2 vs Ghana 1. The Americans had a dream start after Clint
Dempsey pierced the Ghanaian in the first minute to give USA a 1-0 advantage over Ghana. After the goal, the USA decided to play a
defensive game that could have been costly for them. Unfortunately, for the Ghanaians, they were unable to capitalize on their
opportunities. I did not really like this defensive strategy used by the men conducted by Jürgen Klinsmann because Ghana completely
denominated the entire game and it was a matter of time before Ghana would tie the game.
The Americans were being saved over and over again by their goalie, Tim Howard. Ghana were determined to find a
good outcome and that happened for them in the 82’ after a back heel pass from Gyan to Andrew Ayew who beautifully used his exterior
left foot to catapult the ball in the back of the net guarded by Tim Howard. At that point, I thought the USA were done but they decided
to push forward and as a result the USA earned a corner kick. The corner kick was majestically taken by Graham Zusi and the young
substitute John Brooks headed the ball down that left the Ghanaian goalkeeper helpless to win the game for the United States of America.
Despite winning the game, the USA lost Jozy Altidore who suffered a hamstring injury. This is a tough blow for
the United States but they need to regroup to face the wounded Portugal. This was a memorable game, a memorable game indeed!
My predictions were not too bad for day 5. Now, here are my predictions for day 6:
Belgium 2 vs Algeria 0
Brazil 3 vs Mexico 0
Russia 2 vs Korea Republic 0
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