GHANA PAYS THE PENALTY IN HEARTBREAKING LOSS TO URUGUAY
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 03 Jul 2010
Ghana, the last African nation in contention in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, paid the penalty f or a missed spot kick in extra time and heartbreak for the host continent whose fans came out in full force to cheer them on.
The revered Nelson Mandela, an international icon who had inspired the Ghana team with a note prior to their quarter final match against Uruguay had to send another message when the match was over to console the grief-stricken Asamoah Gyan and his teammates after Ghana?s top scorer hammered a penalty kick that would have sent them against The Netherlands in the semi finals, off the crossbar.
The match which Ghana had every chance of winning, finally ended in a dramatic penalty shootout at Johannesburg?s Soccer City after Uruguayan keep Fernando Muslera saved efforts from Stephen Appiah and Dominic Adiyiah, before Sebastian Abreu converted the decisive spot-kick for the South Americans, who reach the last four for the first time since 1970.
It wasn?t written in the stars and so the ?Black Stars? as the Ghana team was called b owed out with heads held high but eyes welling with tears because they could have won the match with the final kick of extra time after Luis Suarez deliberately handled a shot at goal right on the line and was sent off.
But in a moment of anguish for all, the normally reliable Asamoah Gyan, missed the spot kick that would have sealed the deal after Sulley Muntari scored on a curling free kick and Diego Forlan equalized with another patented free kick.
In its match report FIFA noted that Uruguay started the match on the front foot, looking dangerous from dead-ball situations and through the dynamic duo of Forlan and Suarez up front. Suarez had the first real chance in the 11th minute when he beat a Ghanaian defender down the the left. He cut into the box but blasted his shot right at goalkeeper Richard Kingson.
Kingson was the hero for the west Africans twice in short succession. In the 18th minute, from Forlan's corner, he reacted quickly to keep out the ball after it deflected off John Mensah and was seemingly destined for the back of the net. Seven minutes later, he rescued another defender, this time Isaac Vorsah, who missed a tackle allowing Suarez in on goal. But the net-minder just got his fingertips to Suarez's effort to push it over acrobatically.
The Black Stars then settled into the match and only narrowly missed going ahead twice near the half-hour mark. From Ghana's first corner, Vorsah headed just wide of the post. A minute later, Gyan skimmed the other post after a strong run and cross from Kevin Prince Boateng. The Portsmouth midfielder almost opened the scoring himself in spectacular fashion in the 45th minute, but his overhead kick in front of goal spun off his foot. However, the west Africans got their breakthrough on the stroke of half-time as Muntari scored with a curling 35-yard shot that seemed to deceive the goalkeeper before finding the left-hand corner.
But if they ended the first period on a high, the Black Stars started the second on a low as Forlan's free-kick from near the left corner of the box fooled Kingson with its swerve in the 55th minute and bulged the net. The Atletico Madrid hit-man continued to play with confidence and in the 63rd minute he brought the ball down well on the left side of the box in a dangerous position. His cross beat Kingson, but Suarez, who had three goals coming into the match, could only volley into the side-netting at the far post.
As the match opened up and both teams searched for a winner, Suarez had another good opportunity in the 71st minute but from a tight angle on the left he could not beat Kingson, who punched over. Uruguay then threatened twice from Forlan free-kicks. First, he screamed in a shot that beat the keeper but went into the side-netting and next he found Suarez in the box, but the Ajax man's header was tipped over.
Ghana had the clearest opportunities in extra time. Gyan flashed an open header over the bar in the 110th minute, and five minutes later, defender Andres Scotti did just enough to scramble the ball away when it looked like the Ghanaian would score. Boateng almost won it minutes from time, but his header screamed agonisingly wide. And then at the death, from a free-kick into the box, Suarez blocked Appiah's shot on the line only to then stop Adiyiah's headed follow-up with his hand to set up Gyan's penalty miss.
With the gasps of a stunned Soccer City still ringing in the ears, Gyan bravely stepped up to immediately convert the first penalty in the shoot-out. Maxi Pereira missed his spot-kick for the Uruguayans, but two consecutive saves by Muslera set up Abreu to be the hero.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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