RUSTENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 26: Landon Donovan of the United States looks dejected with Andre Ayew of Ghana during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Round of Sixteen match between USA and Ghana at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on June 26, 2010 in Rustenburg, South Africa. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Officially, the US had 51% of the ball possession in this game, but nothing could be more misleading. We essentially saw the US play from behind for an hour, followed by 35 minutes where Ghana pushed them around, followed another half an hour of playing from behind. The passing stats table bears that out:
| /90 mins | USA | USA | Ghana | Ghana | |||
| Score | Minutes | Pass/60 | Weighted | Pass/60 | Weighted | % of Passes | % of Passes |
| 0-0 | 4.9 | 386 | 82.7 | 478 | 91.8 | 44.7 | 47.4 |
| 0-1 | 57.8 | 354 | 76.6 | 358 | 75.2 | 49.7 | 50.5 |
| 1-1 | 34.2 | 292 | 54.4 | 334 | 75.8 | 46.6 | 41.8 |
| 1-2 | 31.3 | 293 | 83.6 | 264 | 59.8 | 52.6 | 58.3 |
All passing totals are per 90 minutes of game play - remember that the cup-wide average is 350 passes per game. When the US was down a goal the first time and supposedly had Ghana on the defensive, they could barely get 50% of the territory. And once they equalized the game, Ghana did a tremendous job of getting the ball into the American end.
If we combine the passing stats by game state, we get:
| /90 | USA | USA | Ghana | Ghana | |||
| Score | Minutes | Pass/60 | Weighted | Pass/60 | Weighted | % of Passes | % of Passes |
| Total | 128.2 | 324 | 73 | 333 | 72 | 49.3 | 50.1 |
| Tied | 39.1 | 304 | 58 | 352 | 78 | 46.3 | 42.7 |
| Down 1 | 89.1 | 332 | 79 | 325 | 70 | 50.5 | 53.1 |
Overall, the US may have owned approximately 50% of ball possession, passing and territory, but they were significantly outclassed when the game was tied. They weren't as bad as South Korea, but we shouldn't have expected them to win.
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