Goal-shy Ghana need to find scoring boots
Reuters - Thursday 24 June 2010, 10:17
JOHANNESBURG - Ghana, having emulated
their second round showing at the World Cup of four years ago,
have given Africans belief that their involvement in the
tournament is far from over.
Before the Black Stars kicked off against Germany in their
final Group D match at Soccer City on Wednesday, there was every
likelihood that all six African teams taking part in the first
World Cup in Africa would fail to make it past the group stage.
Despite losing 1-0 to the Germans though, Ghana succeeded
where hosts South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon and almost
certainly Ivory Coast have failed by qualifying for the last 16
where they face a winnable match against the United States in
Rustenburg on Saturday with a quarter-final place the prize.
The only African nations to have made it to the last eight
have been Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002, but Ghana could
join that elite club if they actually manage to convert their
attractive creativity into goals.
The problem is, they don't do that very often.
They have advanced by scoring just twice - both goals from
penalties converted by Asamoah Gyan - in a 1-0 win over Serbia
and a 1-1 draw with Australia, but they now need to improve
their finishing.
FAILED TO SCORE
It does not help that they have failed to score more than
one goal in their last 13 internationals - a run that stretches
back to the African Cup of Nations in Angola in January when
they reached the final with only four goals in five matches.
Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac was in no doubt where the
improvement is needed following Wednesday's match.
"We held our own and played very well and created plenty of
chances - we had some wonderful chances to score - but we had
a bit of bad luck and we failed to take them.
"Perhaps we lacked a bit of concentration. I hope we can
score real proper goals going forward and take our chances," he
told reporters afterwards.
"And now we are through to the last 16, I hope the majority
of South Africans will continue to support us. I hope we will
benefit from massive support here in South Africa."
Germany won with a superb left-foot half-volley from Mesut
Ozil after 60 minutes, but Ghana created plenty of opportunities
of their own, most notably when Kwadwo Asamoah had a real chance
after 52 minutes but shot straight at keeper Manuel Neuer.
Dede Ayew, who missed chances of his own, admitted: "It was
a very difficult match but we fought and it was enough to get us
through. Yes, we wasted some chances, but the important thing is
that we went through."
Wednesday's game was the first in the World Cup with two
siblings on opposite sides, with Ghana's Kevin-Prince Boateng
lining up against his younger half-brother Jerome.
"It was a very emotional day for me," said Kevin-Prince, who
represented Germany at junior level before opting for Ghana this
year. "I thought about it all day, and it turned out well
because although we lost, we went through and that was what
mattered most."
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