Germany’s hopes of making the World Cup second round, which looked solid only a few days ago, now rest squarely on a yet unnamed replacement striker tasked with firing them past rivals Ghana.
Germany’s 4-0 demolition of Australia in their Group D opener set the three-time World Cup winners on course for what looked like a comfortable passage into the last 16, before a shock 1-0 defeat by Serbia.
Now the Germans have to face the worst-case scenario, having to beat Ghana in the final group match at an altitude of 1,700m at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium today with their first-choice striker Miroslav Klose suspended.
His red card against Serbia has left coach Joachim Loew to solve an attacking conundrum at the worst possible time.
Ghana are top with four points ahead of Germany and Serbia on three. Australia, who have one point, face the Serbs in their final group match today in Nelspruit.
“I will wait until after the final training on Tuesday before I decide who will be my starting striker, but every player, every striker is ready and eager to play,” Loew said.
The most likely choice as the team’s lone forward is Cacau, who scored three goals in two friendly matches before the World Cup and was only edged out of the starting lineup by Klose in South Africa. He also came on and netted against Australia.
Apart from that change, Loew has insisted there is no need for other modifications to his young team, five of whom have already been booked and who know another yellow card would see them miss the next match should Germany advance.
“Despite the defeat, there were many positive things from the Serbia match and we have drawn our lessons from that,” Loew said.
While Germany have to decide who will get their goals, Ghana just cannot score from open play.
The African side have been impressive defensively and in terms of distribution, but have been firing blanks up front, needing a penalty from Asamoah Gyan to beat Serbia 1-0 and another to earn a 1-1 draw against 10-man Australia.
“We have [only] scored through two penalties, but we will rectify that in the next game,” said coach Milovan Rajevac, knowing they have failed to score more than one goal in each of their last 12 games.
He could help striker Asamoah Gyan by bringing on a second striker or attacking midfielder Sulley Muntari.
“We squandered a lot of scoring chances, but we must avoid this in the next game. We’ll correct those mistakes against Germany,” Gyan said.
They should see the experienced John Mensah back from injury, though his defensive partner Isaac Vorsah is still doubtful.
“Germany are a strong and an experienced team, but they have a weakness too. Though strong, there’s a weakness in defense. We’ll certainly have a chance to score,” defender Hans Sarpei said.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care