Game # 27 - Argentina vs Iran

If you had said to me that Iran would be disappointed that they lost this game, I would have doubted your sanity but I can say that, in all honesty, Iran could have won this. The first half was all Argentina and they hammered way at the Iranian defense but it held steady. The half finished 0-0. In the second half, Iran were easily the better team and had far more shots on goal and corners than the Argentinians had. At times, it was only desperate scrambling that kept Iran out. Finally, in the 91st minute, Messi (who else?) broke the deadlock with a wonderful shot from outside the area. The Iranians looked shattered - not surprising, given that they were that close to pulling off one of the great upsets of all time.

This puts Argentina through and almost certainly eliminates Iran.

Game # 28 - Germany vs Ghana

Just for a moment, it looked as if the machine might stumble but the Germans, as always, managed to salvage a draw because it was they who were 2-1 down at the 63rd minute mark. Both teams raided each other's goals in the first half but it was the Ghanaian central defense which looked far more steady throughout. The half finished 0-0. The Germans shifted gears at the start of the second and quickly scored the first goal. Once that happened, the Ghanaians really stepped up and it was almost all Ghana from that point on, resulting in goals in the 54th and 62nd minutes. The Germans looked largely ineffective trying to get the equalizer until Klose scored within three minutes of being subbed on. Both teams had chances after that but neither were successful so it finished 2-2.

This group still wide open - if USA win against Portugal it will put them through but if Portugal win, it is on for all four teams.

Game # 29 - Nigeria vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nigeria hoped to be greatly improved from their first game (the draw against Iran) and Bosnia and Herzegovina had played some really good football in their first game so this had all the potential to be a very exciting game - and it was. Nigeria's strategy early on was clearly to fire from long-range and they did, albeit unsuccessfully. Bosnia and Herzegovina's Dzeko scored the first goal of the game, only to be denied by an offside flag that really did look unjustified. However this did get the Super Eagles going and they started to be more effective, eventually scoring the only goal of the game after Emenike bundled his way past a defender and then laid on a great cross for Odemwingie to score from. Unfortunately, this seemed to really rattle Bosnia and Herzegovina who then spent a long while falling over every tackle and protesting every decision which, I felt disrupted their game. They were never quite as focused again. They did continue to drop crosses and passes into the Nigerian penalty area, especially to Dzeko but to no result. To both teams' credit, neither gave up and Nigeria played to extend their lead whilst Bosnia and Herzegovina tried hard to equalize. It finished 1-0 to Nigeria.

This meant that Bosnia and Herzegovina are definitely eliminated and Nigeria are almost there, only needing to draw in their next game against Argentina (who are already through).