Uruguay v Ghana
Football : FIFA World Cup 2010 : Quarter Finals
Friday 2nd July 2010 - Kickoff 20:30 local

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The second quarterfinal match features Uruguay against Ghana Friday night at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

Uruguay

Uruguay continues to be a big part of the South American success at this World Cup. Uruguay won Group A and then beat South Korea 2-1 in the Round of 16. The South Korean goal was the first that Uruguay has allowed in 4 games.

Luis Suarez now has 3 goals for Uruguay, all coming in the last two games. Diego Forlan scored twice in the win over South Africa. Cavani has been put up front with the duo for all but the first game and that has been a good change.

The one problem Uruguay has had is sitting back too much. After taking an early lead against South Korea, the team seemed happy to sit back and defend for the remainder of the game without pushing too hard for a second.

Once the game was equalized, Uruguay picked up the pressure again and Suarez found the net on a great strike from near the edge of the box.

Central defender Diego Godin will miss this match with a pulled muscle. Mauricio Victorino will replace him.

There are no other major concerns, although it appears Uruguay will make one change. The coach has said that Alvaro Pereira will be replaced by Alvaro Fernandez.

Ghana

Ghana entered the World Cup ranked 32nd by FIFA and were not favorites to get out of their group with the Germans being obvious favorites and most people favoring Serbia to get the second spot.

But Ghana beat Serbia 1-0 on the first match day and then drew with Australia on the second day. They ended up tied with Australia on points, but advanced on superior goal differential.

Ghana then got the best of the United States in the Round of 16 in extra time. Kevin Prince-Boateng opened the scoring the first five minutes before the game was equalized in the second half.

Striker Gyan scored an impressive goal early in extra time and Ghana held on for the victory. It was the first time in 13 matches that Ghana had scored more than 1 goal.

Kevin Prince-Boateng is a major injury concern for this match after he had a muscle issue against the USA and was replaced immediately. That would be a tremendous loss for this team. However reports are that he will play. Gyan also picked up an ankle injury, but will play.

Jonathan Mensah and Andre Ayew will both miss the match due to yellow card accumulation. Isaac Vorsah appears most likely to replace Mensah.

Ghana will again have the support (and pressure) of an entire continent on them. No team from Africa has ever made the semi-finals at a World Cup.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

These sides have never met. This will be the second time Ghana has played a South American side in the World Cup. Brazil eliminated Ghana 3-0 in the Round of 16 in 2006.

Uruguay has played African sides twice in the World Cup. The latest was the 3-0 win over South Africa on the second match day of the group stages. The only other meeting was a 3-3 draw with Senegal in the group stages of 2002. Uruguay trailed 3-0 at halftime before fighting back for the draw.

PREDICTION

Uruguay are favorites here for good reason, but this will be a very tight game. Ghana has conceded in 3 out of 4 games, but never more than 1 goal.

However, Uruguay have been quite organized and should be up to the task.

The Pick :

Uruguay 1-0 Ghana

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Uruguay to win @ 2.1 (main bet)

Or consider Uruguay to win to nil @ 3.00)
or Uruguay to qualify @ 1.50