Ghana v USA: World Cup 2014 live! | Graham ParkerWorld Cup Group G updates - live from NatalEmail graham.parker@theguardianSend your tweets to @KidWeilNews, features and more on our World Cup 2014 site 5.36pm ETAnthems (part two)And yes, the USA are singing too. Heres Tim Booth of James, whose most recent album was called La Petite Mort. Of course had he known in advance of his particular role in this World Cup, James could have called the album The Group of La Petite Mort:Its a decent melody, actually quite rousing. Like most anthems its intended to create unity in the face of adversity, coming from a time when America was a new country trying to forge its identity. Its certainly better than God Save the Queen, because its less sturgy and ploddy, but my theory is that anthems should be changed quite frequently so they reflect the times we live in, in a language we understand. Oer the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming what does it mean? Its a martial national anthem and maybe in peacetime, or something close to it, we should be having more forward-thinking anthems, with lyrics that inspire us to be more inclusive of races and genders.I think in Britain were aware that our country has seen better days, and were a bit more cynical about the flag-waving thing. Americas a younger country, with more naivety and innocence to it, and they believe they were born into the best country on earth. They do what humans do when theyre extremely fortunate, which is to say God gave it to them, or that they earned it in some way, when in fact theres a lot of luck involved, and these things are always cyclical. 5.31pm ETAnthemsAlmost forgot. Yes, yes, events on the field, best start to a World Cup ever, blah, blah, blah. What about the anthems, man?!Apparently, this was adopted to take over from God save the Queen when Ghana stopped being a British colony in 1957. Ironically, youd be hard pushed to find anything more British. Sounds like it was rescued from Elgars recycling bin. Im struggling to understand why they couldnt come up with something a little more independent sounding to celebrate their Independence. That said, it contains all the elements required to stir the loins: a glorious and triumphant opening string and brass salvo, followed by a regal and stately middle section (to the manor born), building to a rabble rousing climax. Classic stuff. Looking forward to hearing Michael Essien belt this one out. 5.27pm ETRabble rousingThis is just irresponsible...President Obamas got a message for the @USSoccer team https://t.co/A0gNdpIbj2 #GoTeamUSA #USAvGHA #WorldCup #USMNT 5.24pm ETSome Ghana team newsSo much for Waris then... A report on the Ghana FAs website is suggesting that Waris is indeed out of the Ghana attack, and that Ghana have gone with Jordan alongside Gyan up front with no Prince-Boateng or Essien. Truly a changing of the guard if true (though both had been injury doubts in the lead up, as well)GH line up v USA: Kwarasey, Boye, Mensah, K Asamoah, Opare, Rabiu, Muntari, Atsu, Jordan, Dede, Gyan. 5.20pm ETSome USA team newsThe #USMNT lineup for #USAvGHA. @J_Klinsmanns #USA starting XI! ift.tt/1ltu6Ts 5.14pm ETGhanaBefore the World Cup started, the Guardian assembled a network of experts to break down the tactical prospects of the competing teams. Heres Godfred Akoto Boafo on Ghana:The Black stars manager, Kwesi Appiah, has a disdain for systems. According to him players should be allowed to play free of tactical restraints to get the best out of them. He also believes in sticking with what works and is not known for experimentation.In qualification for the World Cup, he stuck to the same group of players in a rigid 4-4-2; for so long Ghana have been masterful proponents of the 4-5-1. Appiah discovered the best way to get more out of his team during qualification was to give his captain and striker Asamoah Gyan some support. That came in the form of the diminutive striker Abdul Majeed Waris, whose willingness to run at defenders and take them out of position opened up space for Gyan. Nine goals were scored between the pair in qualification. 5.11pm ETA pundit tweetsI am completely, totally & utterly convinced that #USMNT are going to stuff Ghana. In other news, I need to start following some Ghanaians. 5.11pm ETThe bomb popScott Bassett emails: 5.06pm ETPaolo Bandini is embeddedHes traveled to Brazil with the USA supporters group, the American Outlaws. Heres his report from Natal in advance of the game , presumably typed while repeatedly pushing back a fresh-from-the-packet stars and stripes bandana out of his eyeline (Bandini is Method): 5.04pm ETOther Graham Parkers are availableYes, my name is Graham Parker. No its not a rumour. Somewhere in England there are 100 40-something monkeys with typewriters cranking out puns by the barrel load, while listening to Squeezing out Sparks, if the emails currently being forwarded to me by Jacob Steinberg (in some kind of gleeful revenge for being made to watch Iran vs Nigeria) are anything to go by. 5.02pm ETTwitter awakes@ussoccer I hope their pre-Natal care was up to the standard my wife received at @PiedmontHealth @KidWeil 4.54pm ETGroup of DeathNigeria and Iran finished 0-0. Sorry to all the children watching their first World Cup who didnt know such a thing could happen. 4.41pm ETAfternoon allWelcome to our coverage of USA vs Ghana though frankly Im surprised to see you here so early. Shouldnt you be over following Jacob Steinbergs liveblog of Nigeria v Iran? 4.31pm ETHelloGraham will be here shortly. In the meantime you can read his preview of this evenings game, while waiting for your face-paint to dry:While Portugal taking on Germany is Group Gs undoubted marquee game, the USAs match against Ghana is what the US coach, Jürgen ...read moreBy Graham Parker World Cup Group G updates - live from NatalEmail graham.parker@theguardianSend your tweets to @KidWeilNews, features and more on our World Cup 2014 site 5.36pm ETAnthems (part two)And yes, the USA are singing too. Heres Tim Booth of James, whose most recent album was called La Petite Mort. Of course had he known in advance of his particular role in this World Cup, James could have called the album The Group of La Petite Mort:Its a decent melody, actually quite rousing. Like most anthems its intended to create unity in the face of adversity, coming from a time when America was a new country trying to forge its identity. Its certainly better than God Save the Queen, because its less sturgy and ploddy, but my theory is that anthems should be changed quite frequently so they reflect the times we live in, in a language we understand. Oer the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming what does it mean? Its a martial national anthem and maybe in peacetime, or something close to it, we should be having more forward-thinking anthems, with lyrics that inspire us to be more inclusive of races and genders.I think in Britain were aware that our country has seen better days, and were a bit more cynical about the flag-waving thing. Americas a younger country, with more naivety and innocence to it, and they believe they were born into the best country on earth. They do what humans do when theyre extremely fortunate, which is to say God gave it to them, or that they earned it in some way, when in fact theres a lot of luck involved, and these things are always cyclical. 5.31pm ETAnthemsAlmost forgot. Yes, yes, events on the field, best start to a World Cup ever, blah, blah, blah. What about the anthems, man?!Apparently, this was adopted to take over from God save the Queen when Ghana stopped being a British colony in 1957. Ironically, youd be hard pushed to find anything more British. Sounds like it was rescued from Elgars recycling bin. Im struggling to understand why they couldnt come up with something a little more independent sounding to celebrate their Independence. That said, it contains all the elements required to stir the loins: a glorious and triumphant opening string and brass salvo, followed by a regal and stately middle section (to the manor born), building to a rabble rousing climax. Classic stuff. Looking forward to hearing Michael Essien belt this one out. 5.27pm ETRabble rousingThis is just irresponsible...President Obamas got a message for the @USSoccer team https://t.co/A0gNdpIbj2 #GoTeamUSA #USAvGHA #WorldCup #USMNT 5.24pm ETSome Ghana team newsSo much for Waris then... A report on the Ghana FAs website is suggesting that Waris is indeed out of the Ghana attack, and that Ghana have gone with Jordan alongside Gyan up front with no Prince-Boateng or Essien. Truly a changing of the guard if true (though both had been injury doubts in the lead up, as well)GH line up v USA: Kwarasey, Boye, Mensah, K Asamoah, Opare, Rabiu, Muntari, Atsu, Jordan, Dede, Gyan. 5.20pm ETSome USA team newsThe #USMNT lineup for #USAvGHA. @J_Klinsmanns #USA starting XI! ift.tt/1ltu6Ts 5.14pm ETGhanaBefore the World Cup started, the Guardian assembled a network of experts to break down the tactical prospects of the competing teams. Heres Godfred Akoto Boafo on Ghana:The Black stars manager, Kwesi Appiah, has a disdain for systems. According to him players should be allowed to play free of tactical restraints to get the best out of them. He also believes in sticking with what works and is not known for experimentation.In qualification for the World Cup, he stuck to the same group of players in a rigid 4-4-2; for so long Ghana have been masterful proponents of the 4-5-1. Appiah discovered the best way to get more out of his team during qualification was to give his captain and striker Asamoah Gyan some support. That came in the form of the diminutive striker Abdul Majeed Waris, whose willingness to run at defenders and take them out of position opened up space for Gyan. Nine goals were scored between the pair in qualification. 5.11pm ETA pundit tweetsI am completely, totally & utterly convinced that #USMNT are going to stuff Ghana. In other news, I need to start following some Ghanaians. 5.11pm ETThe bomb popScott Bassett emails: 5.06pm ETPaolo Bandini is embeddedHes traveled to Brazil with the USA supporters group, the American Outlaws. Heres his report from Natal in advance of the game , presumably typed while repeatedly pushing back a fresh-from-the-packet stars and stripes bandana out of his eyeline (Bandini is Method): 5.04pm ETOther Graham Parkers are availableYes, my name is Graham Parker. No its not a rumour. Somewhere in England there are 100 40-something monkeys with typewriters cranking out puns by the barrel load, while listening to Squeezing out Sparks, if the emails currently being forwarded to me by Jacob Steinberg (in some kind of gleeful revenge for being made to watch Iran vs Nigeria) are anything to go by. 5.02pm ETTwitter awakes@ussoccer I hope their pre-Natal care was up to the standard my wife received at @PiedmontHealth @KidWeil 4.54pm ETGroup of DeathNigeria and Iran finished 0-0. Sorry to all the children watching their first World Cup who didnt know such a thing could happen. 4.41pm ETAfternoon allWelcome to our coverage of USA vs Ghana though frankly Im surprised to see you here so early. Shouldnt you be over following Jacob Steinbergs liveblog of Nigeria v Iran? 4.31pm ETHelloGraham will be here shortly. In the meantime you can read his preview of this evenings game, while waiting for your face-paint to dry:While Portugal taking on Germany is Group Gs undoubted marquee game, the USAs match against Ghana is what the US coach, Jürgen ...read more Source: The Guardian ift.tt/1gB4pon
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 22:16:24 +0000
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