Expert Picks

Brad Thomas and I saw the same news today that Ghana top midfielder Thomas Partey will not play in this one because he wasn't granted a visa to enter Canada due to some serious legal charges in London. Seeing what those were, I'm a little surprised he was allowed to enter the USA. Partey, formerly of Arsenal and now Villareal in European football, has 57 caps for his national side and just played in the last warmup. Why is Ghana favored anyways ranked 73rd in the world -- easily the worst of Group L -- and Panama 34th?

I’ve been pretty low on this Ghana team for quite some time. I actually took them not to win a single group game, and I also took them to finish with the fewest points in the group. Now, their man in the middle, Thomas Partey, will be out after he was denied entry into the United States. He is so vital to this team's success that I find it hard to believe Ghana can win this match without him. After failing to win seven of their last matches, Ghana already looked disjointed. Now, without Partey controlling the midfield, it feels like they’re only going to be even more out of sorts.