Ghana v Germany, Wednesday 23rd June, 7.30pm
It’s Ghana who currently sit top of Group D after two matches, although the bookies make them third favourites to qualify for the last sixteen. The Black Stars might have beaten Serbia and drawn with Australia to rack up four points, although you can still back Milovan Rajevac’s team at 10/11 (Stan James) to go through and possibly play England in the next round.
Indeed, there’s the perception that the Africans were able to take advantage of a sub-standard Serbian performance in Pretoria and that they will get outclassed by the Germans at Soccer City. You can back Ghana at 6/1 (Paddy Power) to win in Johannesburg and it’s puzzling as to why the bookmakers are prepared to quote such a big price. While a draw (7/2 Coral) would be enough for them to go through, they must surely aim to for a maximum haul.
Germany are available at 4/7 (Ladbrokes) to win this match and bounce back from that surprise defeat against Serbia. Joachim Low’s team will be missing the suspended Miroslav Klose, although they still produced plenty of chances in Port Elizabeth and missed a penalty through Lukas Podolski. The Cologne striker still looked dangerous throughout and could be the man to open the scoring at 6/1 (William Hill). The manager must decide whether to play Cacau (6/1 William Hill) or Mario Gomez (6/1 Ladbrokes) in Klose’s absence, although Bayern’s Thomas Muller (8/1 bet365) is likely to retain his place.
For the Ghanaians, it’s been Asamoah Gyan who has been ‘Jonny on the spot’, having scored a penalty against both Serbia and Australia. It means that the Rennes striker has got a ratio of one goal every two games for his country and he’s on offer at 10/1 with Blue Square. There’s also a certain midfielder who will be looking forward to lining up against Germany and there will be no love lost between Kevin Prince-Boateng and his opposite numbers. The Portsmouth midfielder’s tackle on Michael Ballack put the latter out of the World Cup and he’s 25/1 (Blue Square) to rub salt in the wounds by breaking the deadlock.
Much depends on whether John Mensah and Isaac Vorsah will recover in time to line up in central defence after the duo both missed out against the Aussies. They were a formidable pairing against the Serbs and it could well be worth a bet on Ghana +1 at 17/20 (bet365) on the Asian Handicap market. An early goal for the Black Stars would mean Germany would need to score three times in order for this particular bet to lose.
If you do think that a Mesut Ozil-inspired Germany can wipe the floor with their opponents and book their place in the last sixteen as Group D winners, bet365 offer 7/5 that they lead at half-time and full-time, while another 4-0 thrashing is on offer at 22/1 (Sporting Bet).