Congratulations to Landon Donovan and the US World Cup team on a tremendous round of group play. They managed to win over Algeria on a 91st minute goal (soccer's version of overtime). This coupled with the stunning shoulda-been victory that was disallowed by the now unemployed referee and the US had a great run. When all was said and done the US will advance to the knockout round of 16 as the group winner and England will advance as runner up. True to form Germany won group D. What this means to the person who watches soccer, oh say every four years, is that by winning the group the US plays the second place team in group D (so-so Ghana) rather than the group winner (mighty Germany). This sets up an exciting match between England and Germany and a very winnable match for the US versus Ghana. For those wondering about the odds according to the Coca-Cola World Rankings, Germany is sixth, the USA is 14th, Ghana is 32nd. Those in the know so to speak knew this way back when the groups were announced, but what it boils down to is that by winning the group the US has a very real chance to have their best tounament ever. If they had come in second another round of 16 exit looked likely. So here is the knockout round as it is set so far:
Uruguay v. Republic of Korea (Sat 1000)
USA v. Ghana (Sat 1430)
Germany v. England (Sun 1000)
Argentina v. Mexico (Sun 1430)
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