Sudáfrica 2010 - FIFA.com

16 Story of the tournament
the line and was sent off. Gyan (3), who had been so
reliable from the penalty spot up until that point, stepped
up but could only hit the bar. As there was no time to
restart the match, a penalty shoot-out was required to
separate the teams. In the end, the hopes of so many
Africans were dashed when Ghana missed two penalties
to Uruguay’s one, thereby sealing the fate of Ghana as
Africa’s last team standing.
Argentina v. Germany 0-4 (0-1)
Müller (13) gave the confi dent and composed Germans
an early third-minute lead from a free kick. Klose (11) then
came close to doubling their advantage in the 24th minute,
which served as the signal for Argentina to fi nd their way
back into the game and enjoy more possession. Early in
the second half, Maxi Rodríguez (20) and Di María (7) both
had excellent chances to equalise, but the Germans quickly
reorganised and hit Argentina with a double blow by scoring
in the 68th and 74th minutes. The belief appeared to drain
from Argentina, and there was even time for Germany to
add a fourth goal. Messi (10) and Tévez (11) had simply not
found any space in which to play because of the compact
German defence. The Europeans were happy to play on
the counter-attack, and it was a tactic that brought them
success.
Paraguay v. Spain 0-1 (0-0)
For long periods, the Spanish found it hard to break down
the Paraguayans, who were solid defensively and were
becoming ever more dangerous on the counter-attack after