Ghana keep African dream alive

AFRICA CAN breathe easy for a few more days at least. Its sole representative in the World Cup knockout stage is alive and kicking after edging past the United States 2-1 in Rustenberg on Saturday; and what’s more, they are starting to believe in “the ultimate dream”.

Asamoah Gyan’s blistering strike in the early stages of extra-time has enabled Ghana to match Cameroon and Senegal’s achievement of reaching a World Cup quarter-final. With a strong but far from invincible Uruguay team standing in their way of a place in the last four on Friday, the Black Stars have no intention of stopping now.

“Before the game, I told everyone we’d beat the United States,” enthused their confident young midfielder Samuel Inkoom. “Uruguay won’t be easy, but I think we’ll beat them too. We’re going to live the ultimate dream.”

Inkoom’s pledge may sound far-fetched, yet there is something so refreshing and endearing about this Ghana team you want to believe it is possible.

They do not have a team of world-beaters. In fact, their only truly world-class performer, Michael Essien, is injured. Moreover, they possess the youngest squad in the competition.

But despite all of this, Milovan Rajevac’s troops form a powerful, organised unit that, at times, plays with brilliant skill and an enviable swagger.

Their performance in the first 30 minutes against the US was as stylish and commanding as anything we have seen in South Africa.

Lining up in a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation that saw three graduates from last year’s Under-20 World Cup-winning side – Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah and Inkoom – buzzing about behind lone striker Gyan with considerable menace, the West Africans reduced Bob Bradley’s hard-working team to chasing shadows.

Ghana’s most recent addition, the German-born Kevin Prince Boateng, quickly broke the American resistance with a fine run and shot inside five minutes. Udinese’s talented playmaker Asamoah was the architect, robbing Ricardo Clark and feeding Boateng.

The US looked overwhelmed by Ghana’s composure on the ball, and might have fallen further behind had Gyan and Boateng been more accurate with their shooting.

Clark, in particular, struggled badly and was taken off on the half-hour having already picked up a yellow card.

“It wasn’t the best performance from me,” said the distraught midfielder.

“I take full responsibility for the goal. I feel like I let my team down.”

Clark’s inclusion was one of several questionable decisions from Bradley, who lost the tactical battle to his canny Serbian opponent Rajevac.

To be fair to the American, he acted quickly to rectify the problems. Maurice Edu helped steady the ship after replacing Clark, and Bradley’s decision to send on a fifth midfielder, Benny Feilhaber, at the expense of ineffective striker Robbie Findley momentarily swung the game in his side’s favour.

Indeed, the second half saw the 2002 quarter-finalists equalise for the third time in the tournament. Having recovered against England and Slovenia, the US levelled through Landon Donovan’s 62nd-minute penalty, his third goal of the tournament, after Clint Dempsey had been tripped by Jonathan Mensah.

There can be no doubting the mental toughness of this American side, and for the remainder of the 90 minutes they looked the likelier winner.

With the 19-year-old Mensah suddenly looking vulnerable, and Gyan increasingly isolated, goalkeeper Richard Kingson needed to come to the rescue.

Wigan’s third-choice custodian (nobody here can quite work that one out) had already pulled off one spectacular stop to deny Feilhaber when he raced off his line to expertly tackle Jozy Altidore.

Kingson was undoubtedly one of the heroes for Ghana. Inkoom, though, was keen to stress the collective nature of the performance.

“Richard was brilliant and Gyan scored a great goal,” the FC Basel player said. “I don’t know what to say about those guys. Gyan can score at any moment. But we have a lot of good players. We’re like a family.”

The US seem just as close-knit but do not possess the same individual quality. Bradley refused to condemn his wayward attackers, who have failed to score in the last two World Cups, yet admitted it was “maybe” a problem.

“When you are creating a lot of chances but not scoring, it makes you think something isn’t right,” he said.

Bradley was fighting to hold back tears as he attempted to explain what had gone wrong. In the cold light of day he may realise that if Gyan had been on the other team the scoreline would surely have been different.

The powerful, athletic Rennes striker has been mightily impressive in this tournament, and not even Bradley’s comeback kings could recover from his blistering goal three minutes into extra-time.

Racing on to Ayew’s long pass, Gyan surged past Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit before smashing a wonderful volley high into the net.

Could this Ghana side really go all the way? Probably not. But nobody will fancy playing them, that’s for sure.