Match day 5, the final in the group stage, proved to be as exciting as anticipated. The first game had India facing Germany. Winner moved on, while loser was out. A draw would have put their fates in the hands of both USA and Haiti. India took an early lead in the 21st minute. Germany equalized 8 minutes later. Then apparent death blow to Germany happened. India was on a break away with only the goalkeeper, Richard Villalobos, to beat. Villalobos ran forward to cut off the angle and stopped a sure goal... outside of the box. It was an instant red card for the German keeper and the team had to go with 10 the rest of the way. It didn't seem to slow down the team however, as they still scored 10 v 11. Then it got even stranger as the India goalkeeper, Subhadip Sau, dove for the ball and taking the German attacker off his feet in the process... red card for India's goalkeeper. It was then, that everything went downhill for India as the final score was 8-2. Germany will move on to the semi-finals to face Algeria at 2pm on field 12 at Heritage Park.
The second game of consequence was the USA vs Haiti. Much like the Germany - India game, this one was win and continue, lose and go home. Within the first 5 minutes of the game the USA was surprisingly up 2-0. Then equally as fast, Haiti tied it up 2-2. Unfortunately for Haiti, this went the same way as the India game went for them as they fell 5-4. The USA will play Brazil on Saturday at 2:15pm on field 13 at Heritage Park.
The third game also had potential consequences. Although England was already eliminated, a win by the Three Lions by more than 3 goals would have propelled Gambia to the semi-finals. Brazil had other ideas, however, as they turned a 1-1 draw into a 4-1 win and top spot in Group A. Brazil faces the USA on Saturday as mentioned above.
All in all, the games were exciting to watch. Even the lopsided victory by Brazil was closer than the score indicated as England created many chances but failed to capitalize. The stage is now set.
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