Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
ITA	2	1	1	0	3	1	4
CZE	2	1	0	1	3	2	3
GHA	2	1	0	1	2	2	3
USA	2	0	1	1	1	4	1

Ok folks, here it is. The permutations on how America can Qualify. It promises to be an exciting morning.

United States must win, and need Italy to beat Czech Republic to be certain of the next round. If Italy fail to defeat the Czechs, it depends on the tiebreakers (goal difference, goals scored etc) to decide which country advances to the next round. Ghana will advance to the next round with a victory. Should they draw, they will still advance if Italy beat the Czechs. A draw in both matches puts Ghana out whilst a Czech victory combined with a draw for Ghana means that Ghana’s future progress depends on the tiebreakers. I will keep you bang up to date with the Czech rep/Italian match.

GHANA: Kingston, Mensah, Pantsil, Shilla, Mohamed, Appiah, Essien, Dramani, Boateng, Amoah, Pimpong.
Subs: Eric Addo, Otto Addo, Adjei, Ahmed, Kuffour, Owu, Pappoe, Quaye, Sarpei, Tachie-Mensah.

U.S.A.: Keller, Onyewu, Conrad, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Reyna, Lewis, Beasley, Donovan, McBride.
Subs: Albright, Berhalter, Ching, Convey, Hahnemann, Howard, Johnson, O’Brien, Olsen, Wolff.

The Referee is the number 1 in the world, Markus Merk of Germany.

00.00 U.S.A. in white Kick-off, Ghana in red Atmosphere is electric. Huge support for The States

1.18 Throw for states and a shot by Dempsey is weak, straight at Kingston

2.15 A bit of head tennis between Lewis and donovan results in a free kick for Ghana, in their own box.

4.22 Essien is shown the Yellow card for a crunching tackle from behind on Reyna

6.40 A scrappy start to the game with a midfield stalemate. Lewis is the second player to receive the Yellow card for deliberate handball in the center circle.

8.41 Conrad fouls Essien just outside the area but Ghana waste the free kick

10.17 A good cross from Essien finds Pinpong in an offside position, It was dangerous for States

12.46 Typical do or die game with both teams visibly nervous, and making schoolboy errors.

13.46 Landon Donovan gets a header taken away from him by an excelent intervention by Pantsil

In the other game Buffon makes a great save from Nedved.

16.03 Corner for States from the right, and Dempsey with a free header, heads it straight to Kingston

16.59 States were playing with 10 for a few mins after Eddie Lewis got a cut over the eye and needed treatment

18.10 Free kick for Ghana for a foul by Conrad, but it’s wasted poorly by Essien

19.46 A good build up by Ghana led to a magnificent clearence by Conrad for a corner. Free out for States for pushing during the corner

21.39 GOAL GHANA: Bad mistake by Reyna who is cought in possesion outside the area by DRAMAN, who goes on to beat Keller with a sublime shot. Reyna was injured in the tackle is being stretchered off. Ben Olsen is warming up getting reay to come on.

24.44 A corner by the States is well punched away by Kingston.

25.33 Kingston, the Ghanian keeper is down injured. Claudio Reyna is back on.

GOAL ITALY: Marco Matterazzi

28.11 Pinpong takes a wonderful pass from Essien and shoots just narrowley wide.

31.40 Shila is given a yellow card the third of the game, for a high arm tackle on Beasley.

34.16 Landon Donovan gets a great knockdown by McBride, but blazes it high and wide

35.18 Draman fouls Cherundolo outside the box, free kick.

36.08 Great inswinging free kick by Lewis is fingertipped for a corner by Kingston, but the corner is cleared.

38.34 Great run by Lewis, knocks a cross in which everyone except Shilla missed and it’s cleared. Ooooooh that was close.

39.40 Reyna is substituted by Olsen. Reyna never really recovered from that earlier injury that conceded the goal. Donovan takes over as captain.

40.50 Olsen only conceededs a free right in from of the goal outside the box. Luckilly it was a brutal effort. I’ll spare Essiens blushes by not naming him ha-ha.

42.49 GOAL U.S.A.: Superb bloody goal. Beasley robs the ball off 3 Ghanains who were simply messing with it on the left. He scooted down the wing, played in the perfect cross a-la John Barnes of old and DEMPSEY only feckin BURIED it 1-1. there is hope

45.00+1.29 PENALTY GHANA: Bad decision by the ref, he said it was a push by Onyewu on Pinpong. GOAL GHANA: APPIAH buries the penalty.

45.00+4.01 Half time whistle blows, It’s 2-1 Ghana.

Only for a disgraceful decision by the ref, the States would be on level terms going into the break with it all to play for. The Czechs are still losing 1-0 but have had a man sent off. Will be a good exciting second half. States have to throw caution to the wind now and keep attacking.

45.00 Second half begins

48.02 Free kick for States just inside own half, Good build up but Ghana get it clear.

49.26 Miscommunication between Donovan and Beasley sees the ball roll dead. Oh dear, that was embarrassing

51.01 America have all the possession so far but doing nothing with it at the moment

52.22 Free kick for States on the left outside the box.

53.00 Confusion all around and Ghana clear for a corner. Holy Moly.

54.05 Corner is played to Beasley who shot is blocked and Ghana counter-attack,. Keller makes a fine save from Amoah for a corner which is successfully cleared by Cherundolo.

57.42 States just simply cannot get possession of the ball. Addo comes on for Amoah.

59.10 A teasing long cross by Donovan just is taken off Lewis’ head. That was close.

60.13 Eddie Johnson comes on for Cherundolo.

62.55 Draman came very close but his effort was cleared by Conrad. Dangerous stuff

At this moment The States should be sending wave after wave of attacks and its just not happening.

65.16 A great run down the left by Lewis, crossed to Mc bride only for his header to come back off the post. From the rebound, Kingston saves well.

66.43. Donovan goes narrowly close but it’s deflected for a corner. From the corner Onyewu heads just over. Much better by U.S.A.

69.53 States called offside again. How many times is that now??????

73.33 Convey comes on for Lewis.

74.44 Ghana are playing a very professional game now. Not letting the States play at all.

78.09 Good cross by Donovan towards McBride but Kingston grabs it and falls spectacularly to waste time,

79.38 Tachie-mensai comes on for Droman.

80.07 He’s only on the field and he clothes lines McBride outside the box and gets a yellow card. From the resulting free kick McBride horribly wastes it

GOAL ITALY: INZAGI 2-0

82.42  Convey makes a superb run a plays a horrible ball high and wide. Neither a cross nor a shot.

83.18 Another free kick for the States, but Bocanegra heads it over. The writing is on the wall now sadly.

84.18 Corner for The States, but a Ghanain is down way back in the U.S. half and play is held up.

85.35 Donovan takes the corner, it’s cleared but Convey hits it high and proud, over the bar.

Its over in Hamburg. Italy have won 2-0.

89.30 Terrible, terrible by Donovan. He runded his man, was through on goal and passed the ball why????? It got cleared. He played it into a field of bodies.

90.00 We are in injury time.

90.00+2.34 A lot of play acting by ghana. Not good sportsmanship.

90.00+4.99 The final whistle sounds and sadly the U.S.A. are eliminated.

Italy and Ghana qualify for the second round. America,on the day simply were not good enough. Ghana played a good professional match. Wasted a lot of time trick acting. Although both Ghanaian goals were fortunate, with the slip/tackle by Reyna for the first and the Bloody disgraceful descision for the penalty. Ghana now go on to play…………….BRAZIL.

Thanks to all who logged on and left comments. I’ll do a second round game next week. Hope you enjoyed reading and it was informative. Sorry for the Result.

Again: Ghana 2-1 U.S.A.  Italy2-0 Czech Rep.

Team		MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
	ENG	2	2	0	0	3	0	6
	SWE	2	1	1	0	1	0	4
	TRI	2	0	1	1	0	2	1
	PAR	2	0	0	2	0	2	0

SWEDEN: Isaksson, Mellberg, Lucic, Edman, Linderoth, Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Larsson, Kallstrom, Jonson, Allback.

ENGLAND: Robinson, A Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Beckham, Lampard, Rooney, Owen, J Cole, Carragher, Hargreaves.

Welcome, folks, to the Live Blog, of the top of the table decider in Group B. An English win or draw will see them top the table and play Ecuador on Sunday. The draw will also qualify The Swedes in second place, and play Germany. A loss will leave Sweden open to elimination, depending on a T+T win by a handsome margin. A Swedish win will see them win the Group and avoid The Germans.

Also being played, at the same time, is Paraguay Vs Trinadad and Tobago. If there are any developments in that match, I will bring them to you.

I will be doing the blog from start to finish, top to bottom, with the time being match time elapsed. For those of you new to this, it’s 45 mins per half, with injury (additional) time added on at the end of both halves, at the referees discretion, for Substitutions, time wasting and bad injuries. ENJOY THE MATCH.

2 mins before K-O: The teams are singing their respective Anthems with gusto. Cologne is a sea of Yellow, Blue, Red and White.

00.00 and Sweden kick off wearing Yellow and England in Red

00.58 Michael Owen is looking in severe pain. His right knee buckled. Can he carry on?

2.25 A good move between Beckham and Lampard sees Lampard shhot wide left. Owen still down, England Temporarily down to 10.

3.35 Owen is stretchered off and 6’7" Peter Crouch comes on.

4.46 Good move by Linderoth sees Jamie Carragher head behind for a corner to Sweden, which is cleared by Terry.

6.25 A week shot by Lampard is an easy save for Isaksson.

9.46 A great through ball by Joe Cole finds Rooney, but a bad decision by the assistant referee calls him offside. He was clean through aswell.

11.58 Rooney is everywhere. A nice cross to Lampard is nodded wide.

15.31 Joe Cole sends in a good cross from the left and not even the lanky Crouch could reach it.

16.39 Sweden win a corner on their left. But Robinson punches decisively away. Good start to the match.

18.19 Another corner for Sweden on the left sees Lucic belt a shot off Ashley Cole for another corner which is wasted.

20.34 A beautiful run by Joe Cole is blocked by Lucic but it rebounds to Cole who shoots narrowly ovr. Good entertaining football so far.

21.42 Sweden are awarded a freekick just outside the Area for handball by Ashley Cole but Kallstrom wastes it. Terrible free kick

24.39 The brilliance of Beckham finds Rooney with a pinpoint accurate shot only for Rooney to be denied by a good save by Isaksson

28.07 Great bending, dipping, free kick by Beckham (his trademark) has Isaksson making a desperation save.

30.53 A crushing tackle by Erik Edman is penalised by the Ref, and signs of Beckham getting aggitated. Paraguay take the lead against T+T. 1-0

33.08 GOAL ENGLAND:  A good move by Carragher on the right is nodded back by Crouch, Lucic Clears only to JOE COLE who thumps an unmerciful dipping shot from 30 yards over Isaksson into the top right hand corner. Sensational goal. That will be on ESPN’s top 10. A wonder goal

37.47 It’s all England at the moment with Sweden having to chase the game. Ljungberg is stopped in his tracks by a fantastic tackle in the box by Ferdinand.

39.23 Another good English move has Lampard trying another spectacular shot only to skim the top of the bar. England are good today.

41.05 A defensive mix up between Alexandersson and Melberg is cleared for a corner. From the resulting corner, Rooney shoots just over.

45.00 Almost half-time, only 1 min injury time, and England are content to keep possession.

45.00+.57 Lampard has another shot but straight at Isaksson. The whistle blows and what a breathtaking 1st half.

Hope you are understanding the blog. I’ll be back in 15 mins for the 2nd half…

45.00 Second Half starts.

48.26 Once again the second half starts off in the same vain as the first ended with England pressing.

49.35 A Swedish attack sees Terry deflect a Ljungberg shot for a corner.

50.03 GOAL SWEDEN: An inswinging corner by Linderoth, is headed over Ashley Coles head, who was guarding the back post, by MARCUS ALLBECK. Terrible English defending, especially Beckham.

53.40 Jonsson is replaced by Wilhemsson.

54.04 Ljungberg hits the crossbar from yet another corner by Linderoth. What a turnaround, it’s all Sweden. Englad are sooooooooooo lucky not to be 2-1 down.

55.50 Sol Campbell replaces Rio Ferdinand.

56.45 A really poor effort by Crouch, low shot straight into Isaksson’s arms.

58.32 Yet another corner for Sweden

58.56 Oooooooooh Linderoths corner is knocked back across the goalmouth by Allback for Mellberg to again hit the crossbar for Sweden. England are riding their luck at the moment, they are asleep.

60 mins gone in the other game, it remains 1-0 Paraguay.

64.55 A Beckham corner is flicked just over by Crouch.

63.15 England are all at sea, apart from the odd breakaway, Sweden have taken command.

68.58 Rooney is replaced by Steven Gerrard, which means we wont see teen prodigy Theo Walcott today as England have used all their subs.

71.23 Following another Swedish corner, a great shot by Kallstrom is cleared off the line by Gerrard.

74.14 Allbeck is replaced by Elmander

75.16 Owen Hargreaves receives the games first yellow card. Game has gone a bit stagnant now.

77.23 England get a corner. Beckham whips it in, Crouch heads towards goal but straight at Isaksson.

78.50 Hargreves takes Ljungberg down in a dangerous position on the left of the area. The resulting free kick is woefull and cleared by Campbell.

82.45 Alexandersson absolutely cripples Joe Cole, another Yellow card. 2nd of the game. Looks like both teams are now content for a draw.

84.50 GOAL ENGLAND:  Joe Cole bends in a beautiful cross and STEVEN GERRARD buries a header inside the far right hand post. Super play.

86.18 Sweden attack, again getting a corner, which is wasted.

86.50 Joe Cole again is clattered this time by Ljungberg, who receives a yellow card. 3rd of the game.

88.08 Linderoths corner is headed behind by Terry, for another Swedish corner. This time cleared by Campbell, but it’s still Swedish pressure. Paraguay have Scored again 2-0.

89.57. GOAL SWEDEN: Constant Swedish pressure results in a goal for HENRIK LARSSON. A throw in by Linderoth is not cleared by either Campbell or Terry. Robinson is rooted to his line and Larsson taps in.

90.00+1.35 Andersson replaces Linderoth.

90.00+3.34 Full-time whistle sounds. What an exciting finish to an exhihirating game. I did say the game had gone stagnant, BOY was I wrong.

So after I gather my breath, England now go on to play Ecuador on Sunday and Sweden will play Germany on Saturday. Excellent match Sweden certainly Came back into it and nullified the potent English attack. Once England settled they started to basically play possesion football until Gerrard came on. Almost immediately he proved his worth clearing off the line, then grabbed himself a goal, only for Sweden to equalise for a 2-2 draw.

Hope you enjoyed the blog. It was fun for me to do. There will be more. Thanks for all your comments.