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It's not football, but it's still football. Today, the United States Men's National Team takes on Germany in the final match of the group stage, with a good chance to advance to the knockout round.
If you're an American and haven't already made your plans to watch this game, then doom on you. Here's your permission slip from US head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, so take a nice long lunch or break and get yourself in front of a TV.
Here are the critical pieces of information to know for today's game.
WHO?
United States vs. Germany
WHEN?
11:00 AM Central Time
WHERE?
Arena Pernambuco
Recife, Brazil
HOW?
Television
ESPN
Online Streaming
WatchESPN
ANYTHING ELSE?
The United States will advance to the knockout stage with a win or a tie today, but thanks to tiebreakers they could still advance with a narrow loss. A win would give them the top spot in the group, and would likely leave them with a matchup with either Algeria or Russia in the round of 16. If they draw or advance with a loss, they would come in at 2nd place in the group and would probably play a much tougher opponent in Belgium.
Those tiebreakers I mentioned? They would depend on the winner of the game between Ghana and Portugal, which is taking place at the exact same time. American fans should cheer for a draw (which would guarantee the USA advancing) or a Portugal win, because the Portuguese are way behind the rest of the group in goal differential.
Here's a graphic showing the possible scenarios, which are dependent on the following three tiebreakers:
1. Goal differential
2. Total goals scored
3. Head-to-head
Getting a win would be great for the USA to get that easier matchup in the next round, but the most important thing right now is to advance any way possible.
I believe that we will win. Do you? Join us in the comments below.