USA hopes to keep the ball rolling against Ghana

The USA meets Ghana at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on June 26 with their confidence sky high while Ghana enters the game in a frustrated mood. The United States made it to the knockout stage by the skin of their teeth as midfielder Landon Donovan scored a last-gasp winner against Algeria for a 1-0 win to top Group C over England. They each had five points, but the Americans scored two more goals than England.

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The USA drew England 1-1 in their first game on a fluke goal by midfielder Clint Dempsey as English goalkeeper Robert Green made a complete mess of his harmless, long-range shot. They then fell behind 2-0 to Slovenia in the next game, only to storm back in the second half and earn a 2-2 draw. Most fans thought they were unlucky to walk away with a 3-2 win in that game as an apparent late winner by Maurice Edu was waved off by the referee for some unknown reason.

They appeared to be unlucky against Algeria as well as they had another goal by Dempsey called back for offside. However, Donovan, the face of American soccer, scored his second goal of the tournament in second-half injury time to propel the Americans into the playoff round. It was a huge win as the Americans path through the rest of the tournament is now a lot easier than it would have been had they ended up in second place.

The USA has gotten good performances from all team members so far, especially goalkeeper Tim Howard, Dempsey, Donovan, forward Jozy Altidore and midfielder Michael Bradley. The team has gotten off to some slow starts, but have shown a lot of determination, character, and heart by fighting back to get the required results. They also play with a lot of pace and energy.

Meanwhile, Ghana lost their last group game to Germany 1-0 and were knocked out of first place in Group D. Ghana started their campaign well enough with a 1-0 win over 10-man Serbia, but then failed to take advantage of 10-man Australia and were held to a 1-1 draw. They played well against the Germans, but as was the case in all of their games, failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. Both of Ghana’s goals in group play came on penalty kicks by young striker Asamoag Gyan and their lack of scoring might ultimately end up costing them more than just first place in their group.

USA v Ghana Odds and Betting Predictions

It appears Ghana will be the lone African nation playing in the knockout stage, so they should get a lot of support and that could motivate them. They have the pace and strength to keep up with the Americans and their defence is pretty solid as is the goaltending, but the lack of scoring may prove to be too costly. Look for the USA to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win.

The two teams have only played each other once before, with Ghana winning 2-1.

This is another tough game to predict and the odds of an American win at BetUS are +150, while a victory for Ghana is listed at +190 and the odds of a draw after 90 minutes are +210.

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