Ghana Through to the Quarterfinals

Today’s 2-0 victory over Morocco ensures that Ghana not only qualified for the quarterfinals but did so with the maximum number of points. Their win was their most impressive of the tournament thus far, and it allowed us to see a glimpse of what the Black Stars are capable of.

Finally a Game to Smile About!

Goals: Ghana (Essien 26, Muntari 44). Video and pictures at the end of the post.

Lying in wait is either the Ivory Coast or Mali (or maybe Nigeria), but it depends on the outcome of their last group games, which take place tomorrow. As group winners, Ghana will face the runners-up of Group B. Still, Ghana shouldn’t get carried away. While they did have a good game today, they can (and should) do better. The victory was a morale booster, but the Black Stars have to raise the level of their play even higher if they want to make it to the finals.

Let’s talk about the game itself. Since Laryea Kingston was out, LeRoy opted to give midfielder Anthony Annon his African Cup of Nations debut instead of giving Andre Ayew Kingston’s usual place. This allowed Sulley Muntari to move back onto the wings, where he’s most effective. Quincy changed sides (he can play on the left and the right), and as LeRoy promised, he stayed true to his strike pair of Junior Agogo and Asamoah Gyan.

Here is starting lineup that Claude LeRoy chose to go with:

Kingson
Paintsil – Mensah – Addo – Sarpei
Owusu-Abeyie – Essien – Annan – Muntari
Agogo – Gyan

The match started out in Morocco’s favor, with the Atlas Lions putting a nervous looking Ghanaian defense under pressure. But after two early chances which were saved by Richard Kingson, Ghana began to gain their bearings, and nearly half an hour into the game, they went ahead. Muntari, known for his free kick abilities, fooled the Moroccan defense into thinking he was going for goal, but he chipped his free kick just ahead of Michael Essien, who put it into the back of the net. Essien returned the favor twenty minutes later when he set up Muntari, who added Ghana’s second right before half time.

Ghana started the second half slowly, but Morocco failed to capitalize. Ghana could have had two more goals, but Gyan passed when he should have taken the shot while Agogo hit the crossbar. The last ten minutes were particularly hectic, with both Gyan, Agogo, Owusu-Abeyie, Essien, and Muntari all coming close.

Essien was once again the MVP of the match, though I have to say that I’m most happy for Gyan, who’s had a pretty rough week, what with getting booed off the pitch last week and receiving death threats. But today he played very well and was applauded off the pitch. Let’s hope he scores at least one goal before the tournament is over.

As for Morocco, besides the first ten minutes, they spent most of the game on the back foot, and towards the end of the game, their sole goal seemed to be preventing Ghana from scoring another as opposed to getting a goal for themselves. I was expecting Morocco to put up more of a fight, but they made too many unforced errors and played without any direction, and having managed only one shot on target in the second half, the Morocco that showed up in Accra today was far below the level that they are capable of. What a disappointing end to their tournament, which began to brightly with that 5-1 thrashing of Namibia.

John Paintsil’s own goal was controversially denied to Morocco.

I also can’t end this match review without touching on Hicham Aboucherouane’s disallowed goal. Three minutes after Ghana’s first goal, Morocco had almost evened the score when John Paintsil mistakenly headed Aboucherouane’s free-kick into his own net, but the referee ruled that the goal was offside. Unfortunately, I was away from my computer when this happened, so I missed this as well as the replays. I did see the goal later on highlights, but I can see why so many people are unhappy with the referee’s decision. Apparently, the linesman’s flag didn’t go up until after the ball went into the net, and the Moroccan player that was offside was at the far end and would have had no impact on the play. But like I said, I’m basing this on various post-match reports. Should Morocco’s goal have counted?

If so, would it have changed the outcome of the game? Part of me says no because Ghana had dominated nearly the entire match. And unlike their last two games, Ghana were determined to raise their game. I’m also of the opinion that a team that depends on another’s errors doesn’t deserve to progress. Mistakes happen in all games, and Morocco certainly isn’t the first team to be denied a rightful goal (my very own Lyon had a game-winning goal wrongfully disallowed over the weekend). A good team rises above incidents like that. What Morocco should have done was take the game back into their own hands and fought back, as opposed to being so demoralized by it.

But then again, it was shady refereeing at best and certainly not the quality expected at such a high level tournament.

Thoughts?

Match Highlights:

If you missed the game, catch up on the WCB’s Liveblog of this match.

Photos: