Group G is being anointed as the Group of Death in the upcoming World Cup. With the likes of Portugal, Germany, Ghana and the United States, there is no surprise that many view this as the toughest group of all. Let us examine the situation for each team.
Germany
The Germans are the favorites in this group and tournament due to the team's deep scoring depth and organized system under Joachim Loew. The Germans played Ghana in the last World Cup group and defeated them 1-0 in the group stage. The team is also confident against Portugal, a team against which it holds a record of nine wins, five draws and three losses. Germany defeated Portugal 1-0 in the 2012 Euro Championship group stage; the team also took down Portugal 3-2 in the prior Euro Cup by the score of 3-2 and defeated the team 3-1 in the third place match back in 2006. Germany has also taken down the USA six times and only lost three games against them; one defeat came in June 2013 but Germany fielded a reserve side. The Germans also defeated the USA 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup.
Ghana
The African side was one of the top qualifying nations from the CAF as it took down Egypt 7-3 over two legs. The team is relatively young and has tremendous scoring ability; one must not forget that the team was a Luis Suarez handball away from finishing in the semifinals in 2010's World Cup. Ghana lost to Germany four years ago and has never played Portugal. The team does have a record of four wins against the United States; the team took down the Americans 2-1 in each of the last two World Cups.
Portugal
Many are calling the Seleçao a one-man team. But try telling Nani, Joao Moutinho, Helder Postiga, Pepe and Fabio Coentrao that they are worthless. While Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly the hero, his teammates were big parts of getting Portugal to the World Cup, especially when he failed to play at his best. Portugal's record with Germany and Ghana has already been mentioned, but the team does have a bit of a hill to climb against the Americans, a team it lost to in the 2002 World Cup group stage. Portugal remains the favorite to finish second in this group but will need a strong collective effort to shut down the likes of Ghana, who is also a favorite to finish second.
USA
The Americans will travel 9,000 miles throughout the tournament and are the minnows of this group. The team has never beat Ghana and will not have the benefits of a German B-team in the final game of the group stage. Furthermore, Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo will provide a threat on the flanks that the USA may not be able to contend with.
Early Predictions: USA finishes fourth with three losses while Germany finishes first with three wins. Portugal finishes ahead of Ghana by virtue of a victory in the game between the two sides.
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