Match 3, June 22, 2006. USA v. Ghana (Result: 2-1 loss)
Lineups:
USA: Keller, Onyewu, Conrad, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Reyna, Lewis, Beasley, Donovan, McBride (subs: Johnson, Olsen, Convey)
Ghana: Kingson, Mensah, Pantsil, Shilla, Mohamed, Appiah, Essien, Dramani, Boateng, Amoah, Pimpong (subs: Tachie-Mensah, Addo, Addo)
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We met up with a couple of Greg's friends before the match and drank some delicious beers outside the stadium. A rowdy capacity crowd of 41,000 gave an otherwise bland multi-purpose stadium a good atmosphere. The stadium itself is located on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, which was odd, to be honest. To think that only 69 years earlier, Hitler whipped up tens of thousands of people into a frenzy on this very spot was surreal:
The skeletal remains of the Zeppelin Field and other parade grandstands still stand as well. It was interesting to see in person something I've only seen on TV and in books.
The match was immense for both Ghana and the United States. Basically, a win would most likely send the victor through to the round of 16. A defeat meant a trip home. Ghana opened up the scoring when Dramani stole the ball from Reyna in midfield, dribbled towards Keller, opened his shoulders and planted the ball in the far netting. Reyna was also injured on the play and for all intents and purposes, his illustrious career came to a close that afternoon. The US bounced back in the 43rd minute after Beasley stole a pass just outside Ghana's 18-yard line and slotted a beautiful cross to Clint Dempsey, who one-timed the ball into the net.
Momentum seemed destined to shift to the Americans, but an extremely dubious penalty call in the 2nd minute of first half extra time on Oguchi Onyewu took the wind out of the Yanks' sails. The US lacked desire, intensity, and any sense of urgency the entire second half. We seemed plenty happy to launch long balls to Brian McBride and waste any free kicks or corners by launching them out-of-bounds or into the stands. It was hard to applaud our boys at the end of the game because the determination we knew they possessed was absent in this must-win situation. The poor officiating just added to the misery.
Even though the US were sent packing, we stayed in Germany for 2 more matches. Our ticket plan allowed us to follow the group winner (which was Italy, the eventual champions) through the round of 16 and quarter finals. While we were bitter and disappointed, it's hard to be upset when you're at the World Cup. We managed to push on. Ghana secured a spot in the next round where they faced Brazil. How great would that have been - to see the US play Brazil?
Highlights:
Here are some build-up photographs. The camera stayed in the pocket for the match, unfortunately.
