USA will be looking for at least a point in their match against Germany on Thursday to guarantee themselves a spot in the Last 16 of World Cup 2014. A goal by Portugal in the fifth minute of injury time against USA stopped the United States from qualifying for the knock out stages with a game to spare, and so they must now get something from this game to ensure they get through.
Today's big game between USA and Germany will kick off at 12 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on the ESPN network. The game can also be watched online through live stream – free for subscribers – via the link provided below.
If these two teams play out a draw then both would progress into the Last 16 – Germany as group winners and USA as runners-up due to the Germans' better goal difference.
Whether both teams will be happy to just sit back to play out a placid draw remains to be seen, but both teams have come out ahead of the game to reassure fans and organizers that they would both be playing for the win and three points.
If either team loses today, then they could still qualify for the Last 16, but their fate would be decided by goal difference against whoever wins the game between Ghana and Portugal.
Portugal have a terrible goal difference of -4 and so are hugely unlikely to progress unless either they win by a hat-full of goals, or there is a big loss for either USA or Germany in today's other game.
USA and Germany have only met in the World Cup twice before; in 1998 Germany won 2-0 with the United States' present manager Jurgen Klinsmann scoring the second goal against the nation he now coaches. In the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, the two teams also played, with Germany claiming a close 1-0 win.
Today's big game will kick off at 12 p.m. EST and can be watched online by clicking here.
Watch a profile video of Team USA 2014 below:
