Germany vs. Ghana, 2014 World Cup: Miroslav Klose ties goal record in thrilling draw

Ghana doing really well is bad for America’s chances of advancing. We still kind of want to root for Ghana because they are so damn happy when they do well. They scored twice against Germany (watch the goals here) and then did this:

Reminder: America beat this team.

Klose made his World Cup debut back in 2002, and the 36-year-old has since played 20 matches in the tournament. Given the notoriously cagey nature of international football, scoring 15 times in those games is a highly impressive feat. Though he’s only used as a backup or a supersub by current coach Joachim Löw, you probably wouldn’t want to bet against him breaking the record altogether later in this World Cup.

At present, Klose is the only member of the top three World Cup scorers to have never won the tournament outright. Ronaldo lifted the trophy with Brazil in 2002, and Müller with West Germany in 1974. Who knows, Klose could well change that too over the next few weeks.

And then he flipped:

You can’t tell from that vine, but, uh, no, he did not stick the landing. But he’s still Miroslav Klose, and that’s what’s most important.

And with that, Asamoah Gyan is the first ever African player to score at three World Cups.

Vine via @TopDrawerSoccer

But they had time to do no such thing, because Andre Ayew hit them back instantly.

That’s quite a bit nicer than Götze’s knee goal. It’s 1-1, and these teams look like they have more goals in them.

Bastian Schweinsteiger vs. his ankle - Germany’s options in midfield all kind of stink. Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm aren’t real midfielders, Khedira’s dealing with an aforementioned knee problem and Schweinsteiger’s had glass ankles for a couple of years now. He sat out Germany’s first game and they’ll be susceptible to counters from Ghana if he’s not fully fit.

Ghana were better than the United States for most of their opening game, but the two goals they conceded came on bad defending mistakes. And despite having all the possession and playing against a U.S. team that couldn’t keep the ball for more than 10 seconds in the second half, they failed to create lots of clear chances. They’re not good enough to beat even this hobbled version of Germany. 3-0 to the Germans.

The mighty Germans looked quite mighty in their opening match victory over Portugal. Sure, a Pepe red card helped open things up for Germany, but they were already well in control of the match when the defender was sent off.

Despite having a lion’s share of the ball against the United States, Ghana failed to do enough with it and were punished by a late game-winner from the Americans. Ghana FA representatives have spent the week denying reports of a player revolt against head coach Kwesi Appiah, after a story came out saying the players were frustrated with his tactics against the US.