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Better luck next time?

June 12th, 2006 | By: Robert | 28 Comments »

Well the disspiriting second half has come to a close and Ghana have lost their debut 2-0 to Italy. The Stars played well and strong, but it would be hard pressed to say that they fared better than Cote D’Ivoire or Angola. In particular, the second half showed real roughness in the back third (Sammy Kuffour, what was that monstrosity leading to the second goal), and the attack was still impotent.

More worries- the Stars have a real challenge ahead of them in a Czech Republic group that looked painfully efficient in dispatching the US today. With a win, Ghana could truly play the spoiler for the group, and even a draw would win some praise, but Ghana will have to think fast about amending some of their defensive weaknesses to make that happen. The World Cup demands 90 minutes of intense effort, and the 85 minutes that Ghana gave were not quite enough.

On the bright side though, hard, efficient play and an amazing effort from the solid midfield. Hoping there is more in the tank for two more matches.

Tags: Ghana, Italy defeat, next time, World Cup

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Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 28 comments.

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By VooDoo | June 13th, 2006 at 1:06 am

Meganews!

This World Cup 2006 is under control of voodoo magicians http://www.voodoo4football.com
The results of the matches are under the control of psy-influence!
Do you believe in it? What dou you think?

Posted from Ukraine

By Brazilian | June 13th, 2006 at 2:36 am

What can I say for Essien that’s not being said already, the man is the best midfield player in the world. He ltterally carried the team on his back from end to end.
I can say the same for Canavaro, what a defender, world class. All in all both teams played well, at the end a mistake is all it took to decide. Stong group, I hope the best teams qualify so we can have a great world cup. What can I say I like all four teams in the group.

Posted from United States

By Faris | June 13th, 2006 at 3:22 am

Only Essien shined. The rest tried, but failed. It wasn’t a bad effort, but the Italians showed just why they are such consumate professionals.

Only Essien from their team would have made it to the Italian starting eleven.

Posted from United States

By persian | June 13th, 2006 at 5:12 am

it should been of a draw if the ref called a penalty on italy. (the 1st one not 2nd)

Posted from United States

By stef | June 13th, 2006 at 9:43 am

Am I the only one disturbed by the HUGE number of wrong passes in the midfield all the time? For God’s sake, they couldn’t change the ball for 3-4 times correctly… It was a bad performance, and the 2nd goal wasn’t just Kuffour’s mistake. Another player lost stupidly (again) the ball in the midfield just seconds before the goal… of course Italy’s not an easy piece.

Posted from Finland

By Mafoya Dossoumon | June 13th, 2006 at 11:45 am

A very strong performance for a first match at the world cup. But the question is: What is missing in the African game? What is that X factor needed in order to win matches. Notice the words I use. What does it matter that you play a strong, beautiful, tactical, technical game when you cannot score goals. How can you win matches when you do not score goals. Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo. I think this is what managers and coaches of African teams need to think about.

Having said that, Ghana could have played a goaless draw at least since they apparently forgot how to score goals. The two goals from the Italians came from a loss of concentration from the defence. I was pleasantly surprised that the referee was very fair to both teams. We all know how referees are often biased against African teams because of the very physical nature of their games. But this particular referee was fantastic. Kudos.

Richard Kingston was very good in post but needs to work on his handling of crosses and corners.

Stellar performance from John Mensah in central defence.

Essien as usual marvellous in midfield. He is the engine room but he can be a lot better if he polishes his goal scoring abilities. I think the Italians gave Essien a lot of room to maneuver because they knew he could not score. Lippi rather instructed his boys to watch Sulley Muntari as he is better at scoring goals than Essien.

Muntari did not have a good game yesterday. He was nowhere to be found. Same goes for the de facto striker Amoah.

As for Asamoah Gyan the least said about him the better. This is the world cup for christ sake. As a striker your objective should be to find the back of the net not to play to the gallery trying to show you can dribble as good as Ronaldinho. You are no Ronaldinho when the midfield gives you the ball, hold on to the ball, pass the ball, score a goal or force a corner or throw in that’s the mark of a good striker.

This leads me to the only mistake Ghana’s coach Ratomir Djudkovic made during the match. He did not substitute Asamoah Gyan early enough.

Well a good game by all standards, Ghana needs to polish all rough edges and come back sharper and more effective. Kudos guys it was your first game at your first world cup and you did very well.

Thanks.

Posted from Ghana

By Pao | June 13th, 2006 at 11:55 am

Hi guys as an Italian support i must say it was a very good game. Ghana’s midfield is remarkable, I was very surprised by the keeper, appearing very weak at the beginning he saved 4 chances remarkably.
Ghana’s biggest problem is the forwards can’t score (well Itlian defense is strong as usual).
This group is very tough, I think Ghana can actually beat Czech republic, they are old, they could suffer by the tremendous physical impact of Ghana.
Anyway it was the best match so far, my best wishes guys.

Posted from Italy

By cfc069 | June 13th, 2006 at 12:27 pm

Essien was magnificent. Unlucky not too score not once but twice

Posted from United Kingdom

By marc | June 13th, 2006 at 4:34 pm

Great game–very good show for both teams yesterday. Admittedly, I was pulling for the Italians, but I always enjoy a good match. If Ghana can work on its finishing (those 2 or 3 unmarked opportunities in front of the Italian goal were priceless opportunities), they’ll continue to be a threat. Have to agree with the previous poster that Kingston looked lost on a number of crosses and corner kicks, but did well overall on direct shots. Check out the replays of that Pirlo shot–there were so many people in front of him that you can’t even see through to the spot it went it… It was like everyone just fell out of the balls way. If Ghana beats the Czechs Saturday, and the U.S. downs the Italians, it will be like the Cup starts all over with game 3!

Posted from United States

By Bam | June 13th, 2006 at 10:39 pm

…The answer to our problems is Derick Boateng and otto Addo.Doya hope you get this in time…..

By Mafoya Dossoumon | June 14th, 2006 at 2:17 pm

Bam, I would be inclined to agree with you especially in the case of Derek Boateng.

Posted from Ghana

By Christabel | June 16th, 2006 at 11:15 am

Look i think it was all bad luck i know we are not the best but we are not all that bad we were not playing in our hot and tropical conditions. This game was a luck game and this time Ghana did not have the luck on there side.

Posted from Australia

By Christabel | June 16th, 2006 at 11:18 am

I am Ghanian and Italian so it was also very hard for me to choose but i have to admit i was going for the Black Stars.

Posted from Australia

By napoli | June 16th, 2006 at 8:52 pm

sorry ghanans unlucky but us italians showed our quality your going home soon bye bye

Posted from United Kingdom

By Jono | June 17th, 2006 at 4:53 am

It’s a long shot, but I’m rooting for Ghana !!! Let’s make this group tied!

By Sukumar | June 17th, 2006 at 5:17 pm

Let me start by stating that I am a supporter of African fottball although I am not an African. Like Ivory Coast, Ghana played some good entertaining football. But Ghana is also a bit naive team and lacks ability to score from chances, although it can create some chances. If Ghana does not improve its ability to score from chances, it will follow the same path as Ivory Coast did and get out of the tournament. Ghana needs to score goals from chances. Football is about scoring goals and nobody remebers how many chances you have created. I am very sad to say that Ghana has not shown its ability to score from chances. Clinical finishing is needed. Playing well is not enough. This football displayed by Ghana and Ivory Coast has been at times wonderful, but it is properly called meaningless, worthless and harmless football because it is not accompanied by clinical finishing at the net. I hope Ghana can score today from the chances.

Posted from Sweden