It was not the prettiest game from the US national team, but they got the job done. Three points are in the bag for Jurgen Klinsmann’s team as they defeated Ghana 2-1 on Monday night.
The game-winner came off of John Brooks’ 86th-minute header with the service being delivered from a Graham Zusi corner. This was actually on the third ever goal off a corner by the US in a World Cup. The first two came from Brian McBride in the 1998 World Cup against Iran and from John O’Brien in the 2002 World Cup against Portugal. Some other interesting facts from this game:
• The USA had only 38.3 percent of the ball, which has been a trend in their four other World Cup wins since 1994. The only game where they controlled more than 40 percent of the ball was against Algeria in 2010.
• The Ghana attack was mostly out on the wing which forced the attackers to whip in cross after cross. The total ended up at 30 from open play, seven more than any other team so far in the tournament.
• Those crosses also forced the US defenders to clear the ball at a pretty stark rate. They ended up with a total of 43 clearances, third most all-time for the team in the World Cup. The only two games they had more were against South Korea in 2002 (48) and against this same Ghana team back in 2010 (46).
• The Ghanaians took 21 shots, tied for third most ever against a US team in the World Cup. Despite that they were only able to put four of those shots on target.
• Despite the speed of Ghana's attackers they only attempted 22 dribbles, two fewer than the US.
• With the US unable to possess the ball and get forward for most of the game, the team was only able to get 11 touches in Ghana’s box. But there were only two that ultimately mattered.
• Jermaine Jones and Alejandro Bedoya did a great job snuffing out the Ghana attack in transition. The led the team with four and five tackles, respectively.
• Fabian Johnson was not as versatile getting forward as he was against Nigeria, resulting in just 25 touches in Ghana's half. Kwadwo Asamoah, his opposite number, had 43 touches in the US half.
• Aron Johannsson had just 19 touches in 67 minutes of playing time, the fewest touches per minute of any player in the game.
Check out some other statistics from the game yourself in the MatchCenter.
