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At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Ghana beat the USMNT 2-1, knocking them out of the competition in the group phase. Four years ago in South Africa, the Americans reached the second round but were defeated 2-1 in extra time by the same Ghanaian outfit.
This afternoon, the Americans' African Nemesis is once again in their path to the second round, in what has been dubbed the "Group of Death," with European soccer powers Germany and Portugal being the others teams in Group G.
With Germany soundly defeating Portugal 4-0 earlier today, a victory by either Ghana or the USA (and the three points it awards) would put them in prime position to earn second place in the group behind the Germans.
In case you're not familiar with the first round or "group stage" format at the FIFA World Cup™, there are 32 teams divided in 8 groups of four. Each team plays the other three teams in its group once. A victory is worth 3 points, a draw is worth one point and a defeat zero. After the first round is complete, the first and second team in each group advance to the round of 16, from which every game becomes a single elimination contest.
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Here are the updated standings in Group G.
| TEAMS | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 GERMANY |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
 USA |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
 GHANA |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
 PORTUGAL |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
MP = Match Played.
W = Win.
D = Draw.
L = Loss.
GF = Goal For.
GA = Goal Against.
PTS = Points.