World Cup Day 17 - Argentina vs Mexico

PREVIEW:- Argentina vs Mexico - Kick off 7:30pm on BBC1

Argentina finished top of Group B with 9 points. They beat Nigeria, South Korea and Greece to qualify easily. Gonzalo Higuain is their top scorer with 3 goals.

Mexico finished 2nd in Group A. A draw in their first game against South Africa was followed by a 2-0 win against World Cup 2006 runners up France. Despite being beaten 1-0 by Uruguay in the last group game they went through on goal difference. Rafael Marquez, Javier Hernandez & Cuauhtemoc Blanco are joint top scorers with 1 a piece.

Argentina 3 (Tevez 25,52, Higuain 33) Mexico 1 (Hernandez 71)

Argentina go through to the last 8 after a comfortable 3-1 win. Mexico started well but went behind to a goal that should never have been. Lionel Messi slid Carlos Tevez clear but the Mexico keeper came out to smother the jabulani came back to Messi who chipped it goalwards but Tevez headed it in. The Mexican players protested to the officials after a replay was shown on the big screen in the stadium but the goal remained. That shook the Mexicans and not long after it was 2-0. Ricardo Osorio played a loose ball across defence without looking, and played in Gonzalo Higuain,who rounded Oscar Perez in the Mexican goal before slotting home. That was the half time score. The Mexicans still enraged by the goal that never was caused a kerfuffle before heading down the tunnel.

Mexico again started the second half well but within seven minutes of the restart they were 3-0 down. The jabulani broke to Tevez on the edge of the box and he struck an unstoppable thundering strike into the top corner. Javier Hernandez came alive in the box with a quick turn and smashed the jabulani into the roof of the onion bag on 71 minutes but that was as good as it got for Mexico. It wasn't Messi's greatest game but in injury he had a run on goal and his curled effort on was saved by Perez.

World Cup Day 17 - Germany vs England

PREVIEW:- Germany vs England - Kick Off 3:00pm on BBC

Germany finished top of Group D to qualify for the knockout stage with 6 points. A 4-0 demolition of the Australia in their first game put them in pole postion to qualify. That was before they were beaten 1-0 by Serbia. A goal from Mesut Ozil gave them a 1-0 against Ghana to help them qualify. Germany have 5 players on one goal a piece.

England went through 2nd in Group C with 5 points. After scrapping draws against USA & Algeria. They beat Slovenia narrowly 1-0 in their final game. Steven Gerrard and Jermain Defoe are their joint top scorers with 1 goal each.

Germany 4 (Klose 20, Podolski 32, Mueller 67,70) England 1 (Upson 37)

Mezut Ozil had an early chance to open the scoring but David James saved in the English goal. Along ball from Manuel Neuer only needed a touch from Miroslav Klose who put it under James on 20 minutes to put Germany 1-0 up. Klose could have put the Germans 2-0 on 31 minutes but James was able to save again.A minute later Lukas Podolski put them 2-0 up with his shot in off the post from and angle. That was after Klose came down the wing, his pass was flicked on by Thomas Mueller it came to Podolski who had an age to make it 2. A short corner from England came to Steven Gerrard who put a cross in and Matthew Upson cushioned his header into the net. A minute later it should have been 2-2 after Frank Lampard smashed an effort against the crossbar and bounced over the line but the goal was not given. Half time 2-1 to the Germans, it could have been 4-0 Germany or 2-2.

Lampard rocketed a freekick against the crossbar on 52 minutes. Thomas Mueller ran in on goal but put his effort wide after 56 minutes. Germany restored their 2 goal lead after a quick German break allowed Bastian Schweinsteiger to play in Meuller who directed his shot past James, that was 3-1 after 67 minutes. England were hit on the break for Germany's fourth. A pass over the top put Gareth Barry and Mesut Ozil in race but Ozil was far too pacey for Barry, Ozil ran half the length of the pitch, got into the box and passed to Meuller who had an easy task to side foot the jabulani home. Steven Gerrard had a chance on 81 minutes but his effort was saved by Neuer.

The final score was 4-1 to Germany but that could have been the half time score. England played well after they got a goal back but they have failed to live up to the hype once again. Germany's young stars were brilliant and deserved their victory. Had they not won the World Cup would have been worse off.

World Cup Day 16 - USA vs Ghana

PREVIEW:- USA vs Ghana - Kick Off 7:30pm on ITV1

USA qualified for the 2nd round finishing top of Group C with 5 points. They had a score draw in their first game with England. Then they came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Slovenia. Landon Donovan grabbed a late winner against Algeria to put them through & top the group. Their top scorer & captain is Landon Donovan with 2 goals.

Ghana qualified for the 2nd round finishing second in Group D with 4 points. A late penalty gave them a 1-0 win against Serbia. They drew 1-1 with Australia in their second game. Although they lost 1-0 to Germany in their final game they went through on goal difference. Asamoah Gyan is the Ghana top scorer with 2 goals.

USA 1 (Donovan penalty 62) Ghana 2 (Boateng 5, Gyan 93) - After Extra Time

Ghana were the better side in the first half, there were three clear cut chances. Two of them fell to Ghana & one to the US. Kevin Prince Boateng put Ghana ahead after 5 minutes when Ricardo Clark in the US midfield. Which came to Boateng who ran in on goal and slotted past Tim Howard in goal. Robbie Findlay had an effort on goal saved by Richard Kingson's foot. Kwadwo Asamoah had a chance 2 mins later but his shot was smothered by Howard. Half time 1-0 to Ghana.

The US picked up in the second half. They started to pass the jabulani better and find space. Their play was rewarded when they got a chance from the spot to equalise. That was after Jonathan Mensah fouled Clint Dempsey in the box. Landon Donovan stepped up and side footed the jabulani in off the post the net. Both sides looked cautious to make a mistake. It finished 1-1 at full time.

Extra time started with a goal. A long ball from Andre Ayew was gathered by Asamoah Gyan and with his second touch smashed the jabulani over Howard into the net. The goal gave a Ghana a lift and they started to play with more confidence also controlling the game.

The Americans never really created any clear cut chances to equalise. The game finished 2-1 and Ghana march on.

World Cup Day 16 - Uruguay vs South Korea

PREVIEW:- Uruguay vs South Korea - Kick Off 3:00pm on ITV1

Uruguay qualified for the round of 16 by finishing top of Group A on 7 points. They got a scoreless draw against France in their 1st game. That was followed up with wins over World Cup hosts South Africa & Mexico. Athletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan is their top scorer with 2.

South Korea qualified for the round of 16 by finishing runners up in Group B with 4 points. They started off with a comfortable 2-0 win over Greece. Then they were defeated by Argentina 4-1. They needed a result in their final game against Nigeria to qualify & they got a 2-2 draw. South Korea's top scorer is Lee Chung-Soo with 2 goals.

Uruguay 2 (Luis Suarez 8, 80) South Korea 1 (Lee Chung-Yong 68)

Park Chu-Young hit the post with a curling free kick on five minutes. Against the run of play Luis Suarez put Uruguay in front. That was after a cross from Forlan had eluded the Korean defenders and goalkeeper. All that Suarez was left to do was side foot a controlled effort into the empty net from an angle. Both sides had chances later on in the half but couldn't convert.

South Korea started the 2nd half well. They had chances to equalise but failed. They got the goal their play deserved. A free-kick put into the box was headed into the air by a Uruguayan defender which came down to Lee Chung-Yong who got his head on it and steered it into an empty goal.

With 20 minutes left in the game it looked as though we were going to get extra time until Luis Suarez came up thrumps for Uruguay. With 10 minutes to go a Uruguayan corner came to Luis Suarez who produced a fantastic curling shot from the edge of the box which went in off the upright. That was the match winning goal which sent Uruguay to the quarter finals for the first time since 1970. South Korea will rue a handful of missed chances that would have put them ahead or brought them back into the game.