Ghana World Cup Tickets

Friday, July 2, 2010

Gyan unsurprised by success

Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan claims he is not surprised to be one of the stars of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ ahead of tomorrow's quarter-final with Uruguay in Johannesburg.

The Rennes player has scored three goals in four matches including the winner against the USA in the last 16. It is a far cry from two years ago, when Gyan was close to quitting the CAF Africa Cup of Nations after being criticised by the Ghana supporters.

Now the 24-year-old, who has recovered from an ankle knock, has his sights set on playing in the Premier League. Gyan said: "I did expect to score goals here because I did so well for my club and the confidence is there. I've scored many goals for my club. I am not surprised. When I am 100% fit, I know what I can do on the field.

"I am not surprised to be a star here. I know what I am worth when I am 100% fit. I thank God for that. People compare me with big names like Lionel Messi and I'm very happy to hear that. They are the best strikers in the world.

"I am not surprised to be a star here. I know what I am worth when I am 100% fit."

Asamoah Gyan, Ghana striker

"You also have to remember that two years ago I was criticised by my compatriots," he added. "It hurt. But I never lost trust in myself. I knew that when 100% fit I would perform and that is what has happened."

Gyan admits a laid-back approach - including a bout of singing - has helped Ghana become only the third African nation after Cameroon and Senegal to reach the last eight of the FIFA World Cup.

"Uruguay are a difficult side but we don't care who we are going to play against. We are ready to play anyone," he said. "I don't think that is a problem. We shall go there and play our hearts out and we will come out victorious.

"We know all of Africa is supporting us. We are the only African team left and we want to make everyone happy. We know how to psych ourselves up before the game. That is the key to our success. Sometimes we sing all the time, we just forget about the game, and make sure we consider it on our terms because we know what we can do on the field."

Gyan also believes a united squad has been a key factor in Ghana's success. "We are united. We don't have any problems. I always say football is not about fighting, football is fun. Although we are passionate, we don't need to fight. We just play with happiness. If you have problems, it is very difficult for you to play."

As for his own future, Gyan admitted: "It is my wish to play in the Premier League but I am now a player of Rennes and I am concentrating on my club and also the World Cup. We will see after the World Cup."

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Thursday, July 1, 2010

The man behind the Stars

For the second consecutive major tournament, after the CAF Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, Ghana have exceeded expectations, and they now stand on the brink of making African football history. The Black Stars, playing in just their second FIFA World Cup™ after Germany 2006, are a win over Uruguay away from becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.

In January they went to the final of the continental championship despite using a team largely built around players from last year's FIFA U-20 World Cup winners after a devastating run of injuries cost them half of the regular team. Again in the run-up to South Africa, many wrote off the side after the loss of midfield talisman Michael Essien to injury, but coach Milovan Rajevac has still managed to build a unit that is solid, difficult to beat and good on the ball without being overly fussy. Along the way he has won plaudits for his tactics and team-building, and Ghana have proven themselves the most strategic and promising on the continent.

Right coach for the right teamGhana captain Stephen Appiah told FIFA that Rajevac, who took over the team in 2008, had won over the team with his preparation and mentality. “Tactically our coach is very smart,” he said about the Serb. “He’s always watching videos of the opposing team. I’ve seen some games that with the smallest mistake you concede a goal and you can be out of the tournament. So, he keeps on telling us that we have to be careful about how we defend, and if we get the chance to attack, then we should attack. And it shows in the games. You can see that we always score one goal – and that’s it!”

Ghana's run to the final of the AFCON was marked by three consecutive 1-0 wins with the two winners in the knockout rounds scored by Asamoah Gyan, who has found the net three times in South Africa as well – including a pair of winners against Serbia and the US. Gyan explained that the team had learned to trust the 56-year-old's choices, and he also credited him with helping the team to build positive energy.

If we make it into the last four teams in the World Cup, it would be the first time for an African nation. Can it be more motivating than that?

The Black Stars coach on the history-making potential of Friday's match

“I think sometimes he does something strange that you, as a player, don't understand. But when you go to the game, it happens [how he said],” admitted Gyan about the coach without big-name club or international experience. “He's very calm, and he’s not so strict. We Africans, we don't like strict coaches. Football is not about fighting, it's about enjoying yourself and making sure you do your best. So I think we are coping well with the coach. Because tactically he's good and everything that he does works on the field.”

Captain of the U-20 World Cup-winning side, Andre Ayew, also praised how the team has been put together. “I think this is one of the best decisions the coach took: to mix such players, the older ones and the very young ones,” said the son of Ghana legend Abedi Pele. “You have the energy of the younger ones and you have the experience from the older ones.”

Another surprise for Uruguay?
Against the US, Rajevac surprised many by starting one of those U-20 players, Samuel Inkoom, on the right side of midfield. The Switzerland-based player was a revelation in Angola earlier this year, but he had not played a single minute in the tournament before the crunch clash with the Americans. However, his pace and energy were constant thorns in the vulnerable US left flank and helped open space for the other midfielders in the 2-1 extra-time victory. With Ayew suspended and some injury concerns over starting players, speculation is that Rajevac could spring yet another selection shock.

“We'll see how we’ll manage it,” said the cagey but down-to-earth coach, “We have 23 players and they can all play. They’re here because they deserve to be here. They’re all excellent players...we’ll see who we can put in the game [on the day]. The injured players will be replaced by healthy ones. One thing is for sure, it’ll be our eleven against their eleven.”

Although, like his team, he appears the picture of calm, Rajevac admitted to being somewhat caught up in the emotion of the moment. "We’re part of history now, all of us in Ghana, because this is the first time that Ghana has reached this level. And if we make it into the last four teams in the World Cup, it would be the first time for an African nation. Can it be more motivating than that?"

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Forlan fired up for Ghana test

Uruguay striker Diego Forlan said Tuesday he was all fired up for his team's FIFA World Cup™ quarter-final against Ghana.

"We are well prepared - we are having a good World Cup," said the Atletico Madrid striker ahead of Friday's test at Soccer City in Johannesburg against the sole African survivors. "We are following the instructions of [coach Oscar] Tabarez and we are confident we can reach the semi-finals to give joy to our people," said the former Manchester United striker.

Luis Suarez, with his three goals in the competition to Forlan's early double against South Africa, is the man who has been in the spotlight in recent days thanks to his stellar winner against Korea Republic but Forlan says there is no ego contest.

"We are a team and we all work together," he insists. "The truth is that Luis and I have a great relationship and I am happy he hit those decisive two goals [against the South Koreas in the Round of 16]. That's the reason we have got to where we are."

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Uruguay's Godin faces Ghana fitness race

Uruguay defender Diego Godin could miss Friday's FIFA World Cup™ quarter-final against Ghana because of a left thigh injury, a team spokesman said on Monday.

"Godin injured his left quadriceps and at the moment he is uncertain for the game against Ghana," said Matias Faral.

The Villarreal player suffered the injury in the second half of the 2-1 last-16 win over Korea Republic in Port Elizabeth on Saturday and was replaced by Mauricio Victorino.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Ghana: We will carry the flag for Africa

Ghana are hoping to ride an historic African wave all the way to the FIFA World Cup™ Final.

Defender Jonathan Mensah says his team cannot wait for their quarter-final against Uruguay in Soccer City, Johannesburg, on Friday after putting out the United States 2-1 after extra-time in the Royal Bafokeng stadium last night.

Ghana are only the third African team to reach a FIFA World Cup quarter-final after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 and they intend to approach their last-eight tie in exactly the same way they beat the United States, by showing no fear.

Mensah said: "All the other African teams are out and all Africa is looking to us. We are not worried about Uruguay. We weren't worried about the USA. We played them and won so we are going to do the same thing."

Ghana have been accused of being too defensive, playing with just one striker in Asamoah Gyan, but Fulham's John Pantsil said: "I don't think there is anything to change in our game. We are going to stay with our game plan - just relax and play our normal, good football and keep our positions and heads together and keep our discipline.

"We play as a team. The coach wants one to play up front so we have to stick to that. If we are tactically indisciplined on the pitch we won't succeed."

When Landon Donovan scored from the penalty spot in the second half to wipe out Kevin-Prince Boateng's early strike for the Black Stars, it looked as if the USA were going to pull off yet another comeback.

Asamoah Gyan had other ideas, crashing home a spectacular winner three minutes into extra-time after shaking off the challenge of USA captain Carlos Bocanegra.

It saw the American team, which had been described by Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac as a potential "footballing superpower," taking an early flight home, just as they had done four years ago when Ghana also defeated them in the final game of the group phase.

After finishing top of Group C above England, Donovan, in particular, viewed it as a missed opportunity. The Los Angeles Galaxy star said: "We were extremely fit and when we scored they were down. We thought if anyone was going to score a second goal it was going to be us. But they made a great play and that was all that was in it."

Donovan, who scored three goals in the four matches, said: "I am very proud of how I played and I can hold my head high and I am very proud of the team. We did a good job. You can't win every game. Ghana are a very good team.

"I'm not sure they had a real chance in the second half. We feel we should have won this game. It was not a team we felt we should have lost to."

Ghana, however, were a revelation. They had scored just two goals in the group phase, both from the penalty spot to beat Serbia and to draw against Australia. But their team bond was obvious from their group huddles before the game, at half-time and again at the end.

Rajevac said: "Ghana are now among the eight best teams in the world. This is fantastic. When we reached the final of the African Nations Cup the boys learned how to compete. That is the most important thing and I now hope Ghana will go further."

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Black Stars become African idols

It’s hard to take your eyes off Charlize Theron. A tall, elegant blonde, the South African actress magnetises attention through her hypnotic blue eyes, high cheekbones and charismatic, enchanting smile.

Occasionally, though, the masses at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town, where she stood alongside David Beckham and Jérôme Valcke, conducting the Final Draw for South Africa 2010, would flash admiring glances at another monument of immense beauty: the FIFA World Cup Trophy™.

They wondered which team would raise it aloft at Soccer City on 11 July. Spain, Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany and the Netherlands were the popular choices; France and Italy receded yet realistic alternatives. Abedi Pele, if of the greatest players in the history of the Mother Continent, had a paradoxical prophecy. “An African team will lift the Trophy,” he vowed.

Realisation of that towering, invariably-ignored promise was in the hands of six teams. The three-time African Footballer of the Year did not possess the slightest of suspicions that, going into the Round of 16, it would rest upon the shoulders of the team he represented for 16 years as a player, has followed all his life as a supporter and recently as a father (his son, Andre Ayew, is Ghana’s first-choice left-winger).

That, however, is the case, for Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and hosts South Africa all succumbed to first-phase elimination. That same fate almost befell Ghana – they pipped Australia to the runners-up spot in Group D on goal difference, while only an improbable late miss from Marko Pantelic denied Serbia a place in the Round of 16 at the Black Stars’ expense – but having navigated their way through the stormy waters of an examining pool won by a formidable Germany, Milovan Rajevac’s are eager to go far.

Ghana have cause for optimism. Their path to the semi-finals is not fraught with insurmountable difficulties, with the prize for victory over USA in Rustenburg this evening a meeting with the winners of Uruguay-Korea Republic in the last eight. Moreover, due to the fact that five of the Mother Continent’s representatives fell at the first hurdle, they have gone from having 24 million Ghanaians urging them on to boasting close to one billion Africans in their corner.

That includes the Ivorians and Togolese, with whom they have shared long-standing rivalries. That includes diehard followers of Egypt, who booed the Black Stars’ every touch in January’s CAF Africa Cup of Nations final. And yes, that even includes fans of their fiercest enemies, Nigeria.

“It’s amazing to have the whole of Africa behind us,” midfielder Sulley Muntari told FIFA.com. “Football means so much to Africans. Having the World Cup here is just incredible. It would have been nice if more African sides had reached the last 16, but we’re very proud to carry their hopes.

"Football means so much to Africans. We want to go as far as possible to bring joy to our country and the whole of Africa."Ghana's Sulley Muntari

“The USA are a good side, they won their group. They play direct football and are strong. But we’re very confident we can beat them. We’re taking one match at a time but we want to go as far as possible to bring joy to our country and the whole of Africa.”

In-form forward Asamoah Gyan echoed the Inter Milan player’s sentiments: “It would have been better if other African teams had come through with us. But they didn’t and now it lies with us to carry Africa’s hopes. The Americans are a very good side, physical, full of running, and they play well as a team. Still, we know we have the quality to beat them. We’re not just doing it for Ghana now but for the whole of Africa.”

With that imprinted into his mind, defender and captain John Mensah is eager to keep the last remaining African candle burning. “This is World Cup and it’s the first World Cup in Africa – it’s hard to describe how special it is to Africans,” he said.

“We’re very, very happy to be representing our continent. All eyes are on us and we are ready to deliver. There’s no limit to what we can achieve – to do this for Africa would be fantastic. The whole of Africa is supporting us and we’re going to make them proud.”

Friday, June 25, 2010

Rematch opens old wounds

When USA line up against Ghana in the second round in Rustenburg, revenge will be a natural motivation. Four years ago, the Black Stars claimed second place behind eventual champions Italy from Group E after beating the Americans 2-1 in the decisive final group match in Nuremberg.

It was a contentious contest, and both teams would seem to have even more to lose on Saturday. Ghana carry the hopes of the African continent and the increased expectations of a second consecutive appearance in the knockout rounds, while the US – riding the wave of a media frenzy back home – are dreaming of a run to the semi-finals that would cement their rising status in world football.

Both teams have achieved much in the intervening years and are among the emerging stars of South Africa 2010. Ghana's youth team won the FIFA U-20 World Cup late last year and a senior team utilising a number of those players finished second in January's CAF Africa Cup of Nations. The Americans stunned the world by reaching the FIFA Confederations Cup final last year after knocking the number one team in the world, Spain, off the perch of their undefeated run.

"I played the whole game and we were in it to the end and I got to score my goal. I think it was then that I showed I was able to play at the top level."Clint Dempsey recalls the 2006 meeting

Now the two will collide with an eye back to what Landon Donovan called a “tentative” and “disappointing” loss in 2006. Both teams have new coaches, and each side have only six players in the squad that took the field in Germany. The defensive trio of goalkeeper Richard Kingson and defenders John Pantsil and John Mensah still play a major part for Ghana, who are the youngest team at the World Cup by virtue of their so-called golden generation. For the US, five of the players - Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan - continue to form the spine of the team.

The inspirational Dempsey found his international legs on 22 June, 2006, smashing in the only goal the US managed to score themselves in the tournament with a powerful first-time strike after DaMarcus Beasley intercepted Derek Boateng's pass. Both players involved in this goal are here in South Africa, but neither has featured often.

Speaking to FIFA.com, Fulham's Dempsey, who was 23 at the time and playing for New England Revolution, recalled the importance of the goal for his career “On a personal level, it was a rollercoaster,” he said about the last World Cup. “I was just thrilled to be on the team... but against Ghana, I played the whole game and we were in it to the end and I got to score my goal. I think it was then that I showed I was able to play at the top level.”

Dempsey's goal cancelled out Haminu Dramani's opener in the 43rd minute, but the Ghanaians took a decisive lead by half-time after captain Stephen Appiah - also a little-used substitute in South Africa - converted a penalty after a foul by Onyewu. And though they have since earned the reputation as come-from-behind kings, the Stars and Strips did not have the imagination to break down the Michael Essien-led west Africans. Brian McBride hit the woodwork, but the US would get no closer. For his part, Donovan does not share Dempsey's positive memories, recalling yesterday: “That was not a good day for me or my team.”