Despite losing to Germany, the United States still advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup thanks to Portugal's win over Ghana.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann Klinsmann played for Germany and coached the national team to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup, but at least one media outlet in his native country wasn't cutting him any slack.

To preview the match, the German tabloid Bild put a photo illustration of Klinsmann on the front page with a black eye and cut on the forehead. The headline read, "Klinsi, now you see stars." Bild has a readership of 2.5 million people.


The U.S. could have advanced without needing a favorable result in the Ghana-Portugal match, if it had just tied Germany. Klinsmann said the U.S. would not be playing for a draw and rejected the conspiracy theory that he could ask the Germans for help.

At the 1982 World Cup in Spain, there was a controversy in the city of Gijon involving West Germany, Austria and Algeria. West Germany and Austria could both advance if West Germany had a low-scoring win. West Germany won 1-0 in a game with very little enthusiasm. The result prompted FIFA to play all final group games simultaneously, hoping to avoid potential collusion.