Germany vs Ghana World Cup 2014: Latest news updates and score with our live minute-by-minute match report of the World Cup Group G game between Germany and Ghana at Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza on Saturday, June 21, 2014, kick-off 20.00 (BST)
Full time
Germany 2 Ghana 2
That's it from me. Here is Jim White's match report from another amazing game at this incredible World Cup. We seem to be saying that a lot. If you are mourning England's exit you're wasting your time. There's too much to enjoy to dwell on the past. Join me here in about 90 seconds or so, once I've had a bit of a rest, for Nigeria v Bosnia & Herzegovina. Thanks for your emails and following the blog.
What does it mean? Well USA will be guaranteed a place in the last-16 if they beat Portugal tomorrow. If that happens Cristiano Ronaldo and Co will be out. Ghana can still make it through but they would need to beat Portugal in their final game, hope USA beat Germany and they make up a five-goal swing in the process. A Portugal victory tomorrow and it's all up for grabs again.
Phew! To paraphrase Sven Goran Eriksson: 'First half - rubbish. Second half - holy $%^&* one of the greatest 45 minutes of football ever seen.'
I think Sven said that once.
It could easily have finished 6-6. It probably should have. Ghana seem disappointed with the result. They know it was there for the taking. But what's that thing Gary Lineker says about writing off the Germans? Oh yeah, you probably shouldn't.
The spoils of battle (GETTY)
FULL TIME: GERMANY 2 GHANA 2 The whistle goes and there are bodies strewn all over the penalty area, which just about sums this game up. Thomas Muller is covered in blood. John Boye is down holding his shoulder after one final last-ditch headed clearance. Kevin-Prince Boateng said beforehand that it would be like ancient Rome, a fight to the death. I doubted him then but this scene backs him up. What a game.
90+3 min: Free kick to Germany and a yellow card for Muntari, who will miss the final game.
90 min: Three minutes of stoppage time and Germany have a corner. Duada punches clear and Ghana counter. It’s three v two but Jordan Ayew makes the wrong option with the pass and Wakaso is offside. What a waste. You fools. You fools.
89 min: What’s Neuer doing? He shapes to throw it but loses grip of the ball and has to come racing from his area to boot clear.
89 min: A miss from Miroslav Klose. He brings it down at the edge of the area but drags it wide. Maybe he should have headed it.
88 min: Gyan now shoots from distance but drags his shot wide.
87 min: Jordan Ayew has made a big impact since coming on – he cuts inside again and fires a shot which Neuer saves low to his right.
85 min: Germany pushing now but Ghana defending like the US did in their first game. Do they have a John Brookes. It’s Ozil and Schweinsteiger who exchange passes. Ozil squares across goal but Mensah is there to clear.
83 min: A great saving tackle from Asamoah – maybe the best tackle of the tournament – denies Muller a near certain third as he races on to Kroos’s perfect through ball.
82 min: Andre Ayew goes straight down the other end and tries a lazy shot with the outside of his left foot which Neuer gathers.
81 min: Chance for Germany as Ozil threads a pass through to Lahm who should really spin and shoot but instead tries an ambitious backheel which fails to find its target.
"Miro Klose is three years younger than Mustafi’s father." Wonderful piece of information from Manfred Breiter.
78 min: Badu – or Erykah as he is known in the dressing room – is straight into the thick of it firing a half-volley from miles out, literally miles, and it goes well wide.
77 min: Final change for Ghana: Emmanuel Agyemang Badu comes on for Mohamed Rabiu.
76 min: Free kick to Germany 30 yards out. One, two, three players run over the ball before Schweinsteiger curls over the top.
75 min: Klose is in the mood now (is he ever not?). He clips a cross towards Muller and Duada punches clear.
72 min: Another corner from Kroos on the left - it's identical to the one a moment ago but Schweinsteiger heads over the bar. Klose's World Cup record now stands at: 2002 - five goals; 2006 - five goals; 2010 - four goals; 2014 - one goal (and counting).
71 min: Mubarak Wakaso replaces Christian Atsu.
Mirolsav Klose equalises (EPA)
GOAL! Germany 2 Ghana 2 (Klose 70) Could it have been anyone else? It's a record-equalling 15th World Cup goal from Miroslav Klose. It comes from a corner on the left which is whipped in by Kroos. Howedes flicks on and it may be drifting inside the far post anyway but Klose arrives at the back stick to stab home and make sure.
68 min: Double change for Germany: Miroslav Klose comes on for Gotze while Bastian Schweinsteiger replaces Khedira. The fourth official initially flashed up No13 (Muller) on his oversized board which was greeted with boos by the crowd.
66 min: Jordan Ayew has stars in his eyes. In fairness it’s slightly hard to blame him after he bombs down the wing from his own half but with Gyan free in the middle he really should square, but perhaps knowing how bad Ghana’s crossing has been he elect to cut inside himself but shoots feebly at Neuer. Gyan is furious at his selfishness. That’s right. Pot. Kettle. Black
65 min: Germany definitely eased off after the goal - they've been a bit slack all game to be honest.
GOAL! Germany 1 Ghana 2 (Gyan 63) What a fightback. They’ve had the edge ever since the equaliser and now they have the lead to go with it. Lahm, of all people, loses it in midfield. Muntari picks up and threads a pass between Hummels and Howedes to Gyan who races through on goal and slots a finish past Manuel Neuer.
60 min: It’s a bit livelier now and Ghana seem to have the greater legs. As in they have more energy in this heat. I wasn’t making an aesthetic judgment on anyone’s legs. Honest.
59 min: Our German World Cup Nation columnist Randall Hauk writes ...
Long-hyped as Germany's most-promising young star, does Mario Götze now have that defining moment his early career has lacked? At the very least, he's on the board.
56 min: I felt the game needed a goal. Now we’ve had two we’re back to where we were in the first place. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
GOAL! Germany 1 Ghana 1 (Ayew 54) What a response from Ghana. Less than three minutes between the two goals. Harrison Afful whips in a lovely cross from the right and Andre Ayew, who scored against the US in their opener, gets ahead of Mustafi and plants a lovely header into Neuer’s bottom right corner.
51 min: Kevin Prince Boateng comes off and Jordan Ayew is on.
GOAL! Germany 1 Ghana 0 (Gotze 49) Germany have the lead and I can't work out if it's a fluke or an excellent strike. First things first, they work the ball to Muller on the right with a lovely passing move. His cross is a peach but now comes the lucky part: Gotze loses his man in the centre, tries to head goalwards but gets it all wrong. Fortunately for him he heads it onto his knee and it flies past Duada and into the net.
49 min: Jordan Ayew is about to come on for Ghana. That's all the news I have at the moment. What about you?
47 min: Smart defending from Harrison Afful – another wonderfully named Ghana player – as he shepherds the ball out of play as Gotze tries to attack down the left.
Peep!! The second half is underway. Ghana kick off and give the ball straight back to Germany. Must have worked on that plan at the interval.
Half time substitution: Jerome Boateng goes off and Everton reject Shkodran Mustafi comes on.
"Two strong teams. For Ghana it’s more or less a final," says Manfred Breiter in Germany.
Half time: Germany 0 Ghana 0 All a bit meh so far. Germany are clearly suffering from having too many coaches at youth level and an over-reliance on small-sided matches among eight-year-olds. Ghana can't cross the ball.
44 min: Finally a decent ball from Atsu towards Andre Ayew but a German head gets there first and nods it behind for a corner. Muntari takes the corner, outswinging, and Neuer comes and flaps. Atsu’s shot is blocked before Mensah stabs wide.
40 min: Danger for Ghana as Lahm work it wide to Muller who plays across the six yard box towards Gotze but despite Duada coming for it with his legs it sails across the area and out of harm’s way.
37 min: Gotze now breaks free on the right but fires straight at Duada. This is all a bit dull, I’m sorry to say. I blame Wayne Rooney.
35 min: Ozil gets free again – this time down the left – and again tries to cut back for Mulller in the area but there’s so many defenders there it’s like trying to pick out a needle in haystack. A big, tall instantly recognisable German needle .
Asamoah Gyan: making strange decisons since 2010 (AP)
33 min: Gyan outpaces Mertesacker down the left. Neuer comes racing off his line and Gyan either doesn’t want to get hurt or hopes to get a penalty – either way he decides not to bother trying to score and boots the ball behind for a goal kick.
32 min: Sulley Muntari blasts one from 30 yards which Neuer punches away spectacularly. But he’s got a foot like a traction engine has that Muntari.
31 min: More rubbish crossing from Ghana – this time it’s Gyan who lofts an aimless ball out of play when there was plenty of men forward.
John Boye denies Thomas Muller (GETTY)
29 min: Lovely ball from Jerome Boateng down the right flank and Gotze gets away from Asamoah for the first time. He tries to pull back for Muller but Boye gets back to intercept and his clearance rebounds off Asamoah and behind for a corner. A corner which Dauda comes and claims with confidence
28 min: Ghana would want to put a bit of attack into their counters if they’re to be a real threat in this game.
25 min: Kroos fires from distance but it’s always rising, whatever that means. Germany are quite subtly exerting their dominance here.
20 min: Ozil again finds space on the right and tries to pick out Muller arriving the six yard box but a perfectly timed lunge from the wonderfully named John Boye stops the German from adding his fourth goal of the tournament.
17 min: Ozil is looking sharp and is finding space in the right channel and he pulls the ball back for Khedira whose shot is saved easily by Fatawu Dauda.
Kwadwo Asamoah skips past Kroos and Lahm (EPA)
13 min: Nice link up between Gyan and Ayew but his low cross is swept away by Mertesacker, who is winning his 100th cap. The Ghana approach to crossing seems to be ‘if in doubt hit it as hard and low as you can’. And any time they get in a wide area they seem in considerable doubt.
12 min: It’s come to life now. Atsu pings one in from distance and Neuer is forced to claw away.
11 min: Great block from Jonathan Mensah after Gotze picks out Muller, who shows good awareness to roll it back to his Bayern team-mate Kroos. He tries to pick his spot but a flying block from the Ghana centre back denies him.
9 min: It’s all pretty low key so far – Germany are working their way upfield with meticulous passing patterns but then lose it when they reach the final third, at which point Ghana either punt it long or get harried into losing it.
6 min: Ghana have pumped a fair few aimless balls up front so far but finally one from Muntari comes off. Atsu races onto it on the right flank, gets his head up and pings a low cross which Boateng, arriving at pace, fires high over the bar.
3 min The first burst forward from Howedes from left back is ended by an agricultural hoof into the stand from Mensah.
2 min: If we have to take something from the opening couple of minutes it’s that Ghana are going to spend a lot of time chasing the ball, which could be bad news in the stifling Fortaleza heat. Hotter than Manaus they say.
Peep! The Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci blows the whistle and the Germans get the party started in the sort of functional, orderly manner you would expect from a German party.
19.55 Anthem watch: Germany up first. Everyone bar Sami Khedira belts it out. Especially Per Mertesacker. He bloody loves the anthem.
Ghana are next. A jaunty number you can imagine accompanying the wedding scene at the end of a panto. Anyway, don’t take my words on the anthems. Here are Alan Tyers’ expert reviews.
19.48 Here's Jim White in Fortaleza ..
There's a Ghanaian fan just been picked out by the cameras here wearing full academic garb, including a gown and mortar board, like he's just come from his graduation ceremony. A fan of thoughtful football, presumably...
Maybe he could have taught Christian Atsu how to cross between the USA game and tonight.
Most people would like to be a little bit Brazilian - this lady sees things differently (EPA)
19.35 In your thirties or above and want to feel old? The last time Germany won the World Cup (1990) is the same distance from now as England's win in 1966 was from Italia 90. I don't know why but that has sort of blown my mind.
19.25 I don't know what this show on BBC1 at the minute is but it is seven kinds of hell. It's almost as if a Question of Sport couldn't contain all the rubbish banter and they needed some sort of spillover banter-fest.
19.15 So, the Boateng brothers, eh? Kevin-Prince, who returns to the Ghana starting XI having made a big impact off the bench in the defeat by USA, has cranked things up a little bit this week by saying that this is a "fight to the death" which should make it interesting at least, if a little gruesome, though probably no worse than Honduras v Ecuador. "It's like in ancient Rome,” said Kevin-Prince, who is definitely definitely not taking this too far with his analogies. “There will be people around the pitch who want to see how two teams fight. The team who wants it more will win and we will fight to the death against Germany."
If you want a little background to the Boateng brothers and their rituals when they come face-to-face have a read of Ian Hawkey's excellent piece from last September.
The younger Boateng smiled. First, because he knows Kevin-Prince Boateng has a corporate box at Schalke’s arena to cater for the entourage who want to watch him in matches like Saturday’s and next month’s Champions League visit by Chelsea. Second, because in texting his sibling, Boateng senior had technically infringed the brothers’ code saying they should stay incommunicado ahead of imminent confrontations on the field. “See,” Jerome laughed to reporters, “he’s broken the rule on ‘no contact’.”
Of course they also came face-to-face on the international scene in ther group stage of the 2010 World Cup when Mesut Ozil's strike sealed victory for Germany.
19.00 Team news. We have team news. Germany are unchanged from the 4-0 win over Portugal. Ghana make three changes from the defeat by the US of A.
Germany (4-2-3-1): 1-Manuel Neuer; 20-Jerome Boateng, 5-Mats Hummels, 17-Per Mertesacker, 4-Benedikt Hoewedes; 6-Sami Khedira, 16-Philip Lahm; 18-Toni Kroos, 8-Mesut Ozil, 19-Mario Goetze; 13-Thomas Muller.
Ghana (4-2-3-1): 16-Fatawu Dauda; 23-Harrison Afful, 21-John Boye, 19-Jonathan Mensah, 20-Kwadwo Asamoah; 11-Sulley Muntari, 17-Mohamed Rabiu; 7-Christian Atsu, 9-Kevin-Prince Boateng, 10-Andre Ayew; 3-Asamoah Gyan.
18.40 Here is the scene inside the Germany dressing [insert lame getting towels down early joke here].
Germany's dressing room (GETTY)
18.30 Some essential reading for you while we wait for team news from Fortaleza: It's Jonathan Liew on how a little corner of Brazil will be forever German.
Brazil is listed in the atlas as one nation, but in reality it is hundreds. From the Amazonian tribes in the north, to the African-influenced north east, to the thriving Arab and Japanese communities in Sao Paulo, it is about as diverse a country as it is possible to conceive.
And there is no better example of this than in Rio Grande do Sul, its most southerly region, where the promotional slogan is Aqui todo mundo se sente em casa: Here, the whole world feels at home.
Take the main motorway north out of Porto Alegre, past the myriad tyre shops and rusted warehouses, and after half an hour something strange happens.
You notice it on the signs first: Kappesburg furniture store, Hartz paints, Weber’s restaurant, a billboard advertising the services of Nilo Franz, male reproductive specialist. Half-timbered roofs begin to dot the landscape. Welcome to Novo Hamburgo – New Hamburg – a little enclave of Germany in the middle of gaucho territory.
Naturally enough, Brazil flags, billowing from car aerials and draped from apartment balconies, still outnumber those of any other nation. But on Saturday night, as Germany take on Ghana in Fortaleza in north east Brazil, a fair number of Novo Hamburgo’s 250,000 population will be quietly cheering them on. For this is one of the many towns in Rio Grande do Sul that has worn its Teutonic influence conspicuously for almost two centuries.
17.45 Jim White is on his way to Fortaleza to cover tonight's game, having witnessed Costa Rica's shock win over Italy last night.
I've just flown from Recife to Fortaleza to cover the game. Without wishing to engage too much in national stereotype, when boarding was announced, the first ten people in the queue at the gate were all wearing Germany shirts...
11.10 Hello there. Evan Fanning will be here with all of the pre-match build-up from around 7pm so do come back then. While you wait here is a preview to this afternoon's game:
Germany defender Jerome Boateng admits to having a few mixed feelings ahead of Saturday's World Cup clash with Ghana.
After keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet as Germany cruised to a 4-0 win over Portugal, Boateng is once again set to start as right full-back with Philipp Lahm keeping his place as a defensive midfielder.
However, it is not so much his position which is causing Boateng such heartache, but the fact he will be up against his brother Kevin-Prince Boateng and his father's homeland, a country he has yet to visit in person.
"My father tells me that games in Ghana are like bank holidays, and my family members from Germany say the same," he said.
"The whole family come together and have a good time. It's very important for me to visit Ghana one day, and that makes it all the more regrettable that I've not managed to yet.
"Such a large part of my family lives there and it interests me to know how they play, what conditions the people have there.
"From my family members, I know that they all watch my games. I know how much they get involved."
Boateng could prove quite unpopular among his family on Saturday with a win for Germany potentially enough to send Ghana home after just two matches.
He has already cut off all contact with half-brother Kevin-Prince, the Schalke midfielder who may be lining up against him. That was more intentional, however.
"It is a bit strange but I'm not missing our regular contact," he said on the website of the German federation.
"The World Cup is a special situation and I think it just wouldn't be right if we remained in touch with each other.
"I am with Germany and my full focus is on my tasks here."
Brother Kevin-Prince is not a certainty to start having been left on the bench for Ghana's first game - a 2-1 defeat to the United States.
Meanwhile, Germany will be without Mats Hummels, who heavily bruised his thigh in their opening match. Sampdoria's Shkodran Mustafi is set to replace him with Boateng potentially moving across into the centre of the back four.
It is the third time Germany have met Ghana, the second in a major tournament.
Four years ago, Joachim Low's men picked up a 1-0 win at the World Cup, although back then, both sides progressed to the knockout stage.
Defeat in Fortaleza on Saturday could end Ghana's proud record of never having been knocked out of a World Cup in the group stage.