If there were an award for the most spirited team in South Africa, it would be a close contest between New Zealand and the United States, two nations for whom football is very much a sideshow. When Landon Donovan broke down in tears after his winning goal against Algeria, saying that finally he could recover from the disappointments of divorce and early elimination from the 2006 World Cup, he was not to know that the United States would be pitted against Ghana, the team that knocked them out four years ago. Nevertheless, having recovered from a two-goal deficit against Slovenia and drawn after going a goal down against England in the Royal Bafokeng, this is not a side inclined to panic – even when they have have suffered some questionable refereeing decisions. Almost unnoticed amid the euphoria of Donovan’s stoppage-time winner was the fact that the United States kept a clean sheet, although they required the help of a crossbar to do it. In their 16 previous matches since they became regulars at the World Cup this is something the United States have only done once before – curiously enough in a 2-0 win over Mexico in the round of 16 eight years ago.

We knew before the tournament began that, without Michael Essien, this might be a less effective Ghana side than the one that competed in Germany four years ago. Then, they came up against Brazil, now there is a far more winnable contest against the side they beat in Nuremberg. Four years later, they face the twin problems of the pressure of being the only African survivors in the first World Cup on African soil and a debilitating lack of goals. They have not yet managed one in open play, relying on a handball against first Serbia and then Australia for their four points. That 1-1 draw with the Australians, who spent most of the match with 10 men, exposed some of the divisions in the squad. “I admit I had a row with the coach (Milovan Rajevac) after the Australia game,” said Sulley Muntari. “I told him we had let a winnable match slide through our hands. But now we have made peace for the good of Ghana.” Given the strength of the spirit in the American camp, that might be one of the factors deciding this fixture.

Rustenburg might have expected England to be turning up at the Royal Bafokeng but the United States against Ghana is an even more intriguing proposition. A team that cannot score goals up against a side that historically seems never able to keep a clean sheet. In that respect it is a game that is too close to call. The Royal Bafokeng will be solidly behind Ghana as the last remaining representatives of Africa. But the United States have demonstrated in all three games that they can cope with pressure and given Ghana’s problems in finding the net they should carry a slender advantage. Verdict: United States to win.