RECIFE: Germany’s Thomas Mueller scored his fourth World Cup goal to pull level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar in a 1-0 win over the United States on Thursday. The victory gave his side the top spot in Group G.

The US, coached by former German boss Jurgen Klins­mann, also went through to the last 16 despite the defeat in rain-sodden Recife.

Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Ghana was not enough to overtake the Americans in second place. The Portu­gu­ese, led by the mercurial Ronaldo, bowed out of the tournament on a whimper, having failed to recover from the 4-0 drubbing they suffered at the hands of Germany in their first match.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2014