With a huge momentum going into the "knockout stage", Team USA has a great advantage on advancing past Team Ghana. Unfortunately for Team Ghana, they have a key-piece that is out with an injury. Their star mid-fielder and team captain Michael Essien, who is ranked as one of the best in the world, is out with a knee-injury. (knees are pretty much the bread & butter for soccer athletes) 
The injury sustained by Michael Essien seems to be related to a tear in his meniscus. (I blogged on everything about meniscus tears' here: Blog: 01-01 ) All of this happened during a World Cup qualifying match against Libya. (He has previously suffered another knee injury (torn ACL) during the World Cup qualifiers in 2008)
It is not a surprise to see Team Ghana back in the mix of things, as they had successfully advanced out of the "Group Round" by defeating the US team by a score of 2-1 in 2006. So with history on Team Ghana's side, the US team has to dig so much more for this win. (There are six players that will be playing this weekend, that have played against the US back in 2006.)
Here are the key lineups for this spectacular matchup:
Team USA:
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard
Defenders: Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Carlos Bocanegra, Johnathan Bornstein
Midfielders: Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey
Forwards: Robbie Findley, Jozy Altidore
Team Ghana:
Goalkeeper: Richard Kingson
Defenders: Hans Sarpei, John Pantsil, John Mensah, Samuel Inkoom, Johnathan Mensah
Midfielders: Anthony Annan, Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah
Forwards: Asamoah Gyan, Kevin Prince Boateng
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