FIFA World Cup 2014 Portugal v/s Ghana: Portugal crash out despite 2-1 win over Ghana

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Final Score: Portugal 2-1 Ghana

Germany top Group G with 7 points out of the possible 9. USA accompany them to the Round of 16 with 4 points and a superior goal difference than Portugal, who also finished on 4 points. 

FULL TIME

90 + 4' Gyan sees his shot off target.

90 + 3' Moutinho gets a Yellow Card.

90 + 4' Nani takes a shot, but it's off target. 

90' minutes of added time.

89' Eguardo comes off the bench to replace Beto. 

88' Gyan tries for another goal yet again.

86' Amorim commits a foul.

85' For now, Ronaldo's goal changes the whole picture, Portugal would finish on the same point level as USA. 

84' Varela sees his effort hit the target.

83' Nani takes another shot on target.

83' Minutes after his goal, Ronalo takes another try.

80' GOAL! Cristiano Ronaldo brings Portugal back into the fight with his first goal in this world cup.

78' Ayew of Ghana gets a Yellow Card.

77' Badu takes a shot for Ghana but it's off target.

76' Acquah comes off the bench to replace Rabiu.

76' Goal scorer Gyan takes another shot on target.

74' Foul on Ronaldo, Nani swings in the corner, but it's easily caught by the keeper.

71' Ayew comes off the bench to replace Waris for Ghana.

70' Ronaldo gives a good cross in, but there were no Portuguese shirts to receive it.

69' Vierinha comes off the bench to replace Éder.

68' Aasmoah sees his efforts go off target.

64' Ronaldo concedes a free kick after a run in with the Ghanaian keeper.

62' Waris commits another foul.

62' Varela comes off the bench to replace Pereira.

61' Waris takes a shot off target.

59' William commits a foul.

57' GOAL! Gyan scores for Ghana, equalising the score!

Asamoah Gyan equalises for Ghana. http://t.co/0OG3EfUjZP

— Football Vines (@Vine_Football) June 26, 2014

55' Wanis concedes a free kick.

45' 1 minute added.

36' Gyan takes a shot off target. He also commits a foul.

34' Amorim takes a shot for Portugal but hits side netting.

32' Ronaldo attempts another goal, but it's blocked once more.

31' GOAL! Ghanaian player Boye surrenders an own goal, giving Portugal the lead.

John Boye does a Vincent Kompany. 1-0 Portugal. http://t.co/PdqsX4ri2R

— Football Vines (@Vine_Football) June 26, 2014

27' Ronaldo makes a great run, but fails to pass the ball properly, and Portugal lose a good chance to take the lead.

26' Harrison concedes a free kick after a challenge from Ronaldo

24' Ghana takes a corner kick, but the shot doesn't find its way.

19' Ghana attacks with a beautiful shot, the Portuguese keeper blocks the shot though.

18' Ronaldo misses yet another chance, as the keeper seems to be at the top of his game.

16' Atsu concedes a free kick.

12' Nani swings in a corner, but it's easily blocked by the Ghanaian defence.

10' Atsu takes a shot for Ghana, but it's blocked by Ronaldo.

9' Moutinho commits a foul.

7' Waris commits a foul.

7' Portugal are currently 5 goals behind USA and a whopping 8 goals behind Germany on goal average. While Ghana are just 2 goals behind USA and 5 goals behind Germany.

6' Ronaldo takes a wild attempt at a goal, missing the upper bar by inches. Portugal will have to keep pouring it on for any chance of qualifying for the next round.

1' The whistle blows and here we go!

* The national anthems are under way and the match is about to begin.

* The Line Ups have been announced:

#POR LINE-UP: Beto, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Miguel Veloso, William Carvalho, Ronaldo (c), Moutinho, Eder, Nani, Amorim, Pereira #PORGHA #WorldCup

— FIFAWorldCup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 26, 2014

#GHA LINE-UP: Dauda, Gyan (c), Atsu, Agyemang Badu, A. Ayew, Rabiu, Waris, Mensah, Asamoah, Boye, Afful #PORGHA #WorldCup #joinin

— FIFAWorldCup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 26, 2014

* The crutial match between Portugal and Ghana will begin shortly.

Portugal coach Paulo Bento has plenty of selection worries ahead of today's decisive match against Ghana, as he will probably have to make do without the services of a number of regulars. Fabio Coentrao was forced to pull out of the squad after the loss against Germany, while Rui Patricio, Hugo Almeida, Andre Almeida and Helder Postiga have also been plagued by injury problems since the start of the tournament.

Beto is therefore expected to start between the sticks again while Miguel Veloso could fill in at left-back, thus making room for William Carvalho to start in midfield - although Ricardo Costa also remains an option in defence. With both Postiga and Hugo Almeida unlikely to be match-fit in time, Eder is expected to feature from the start this time around after coming off the bench in Portugal’s previous two group stage matches.

Read Also: Cristiano Ronaldo returns to centre stage for pointless Portugal

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah, meanwhile, has no noteworthy injury problems but midfielders Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari have been suspended from Ghana's World Cup team with immediate effect after they clashed with coach Kwesi Appiah and a soccer federation (GFA) official. Appiah will have to make at least one change to his starting line-up however, as AC Milan’s Sulley Muntari is unavailable due to suspension, following his two yellow cards earlier in the competition. However, Midfielders Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari have been suspended from Ghana's World Cup team with immediate effect after they clashed with coach Kwesi Appiah and a soccer federation (GFA) official.

The coach also said the situation had left him suffering many sleepless nights and should have been sorted long ago. Ghana can still qualify for the knockout stage if they beat Portugal and the result in the other Group G match between Germany and the United States goes their way. Muntari was set to miss the Portugal game as he was suspended after earning a second booking of the tournament in last week's 2-2 draw with Germany.

 

KPBofficial handed indefinite suspension from #GHA #BlackStars http://t.co/6BorAa4TwF

— Ghana FA Official (@ghanafaofficial) June 26, 2014

Read The Full Match Preview Here.

Portugal Team Profile:

Portugal went down 0-4 to Germany in their opening match. With Cristiano Ronaldo probably out with an injury, the task gets a bit difficult for Portugal against the USA, even though they are firm favourites to win.

Eventually though, assuming Portugal brush aside USA, a lot will come down to Ronaldo's performance in the later games, and the Real Madrid striker showed his ability in the play-off with Sweden scoring four exceptional goals in the 1-0, 3-2 (4-2 on aggregate) win over Zlatan Ibrahimovic's side.

Read Also: Ghanaian witch doctor claims he is the reason behind Cristiano Ronaldo's injury

Prior to that Ronaldo had scored eight of their 20 group goals, and more worryingly, picked up five yellow cards in 10 outings. This is the eighth consecutive qualification for an international tournament for Portugal and Paolo Bento's charges only fell on a penalty shoot-out to Spain in the semis at Euro 2012 after a thrilling and tight encounter.
Portugal also lost to Spain (1-0) in the second round out in South Africa four years ago.

Read The Full Team Profile Here

Read Also: Quality saves Portugal after US ride fitness factor

Ghana Team Profile:

Having made the last-16 in 2006 and going out controversially in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Uruguay in 2010, Ghana look potentially capable of going even further at Brazil 2014.

The Black Stars, as Ghana are known, have a batch of foreign based stars in Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, Al Ain striker Asamoah Gyan, AC Milan's Sulley Muntari and the Ayew brothers Jordan and Andre.

The team slammed home 18 goals and conceded only three in the first round of World Cup qualification before hammering six goals past Egypt in the first leg of their qualifier in Kumasi.

This stunning win for Kwesi Appiah's side, against one of Africa's top football sides, sent a warning shot across the bows of all other pretenders to the World Cup trophy that Ghana are there to be reckoned with.

Their weakness might be that some of the top players have had stormy relations with the international set up, notably Jordan Ayew, Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng of Schalke 04.

Read The Full Team Profile Here.

Read Also: FIFA World Cup 2014 Germany vs Ghana: Germany's lack of leader nearly cost them again

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