Stars cruise to semi-finals
It often does not happen, but yesterday the Ayew Brothers, further established themselves in Ghana’s football history books when they propelled the Black Stars to the semi-finals of the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon.
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On a day that Avram Grant missed his most reliable scorer and captain Asamoah Gyan due to injury, the Ayew Brothers put their best feet forward to fire home two important strikes that set up a sumptuous clash between the Stars and the Indomitable Lions in Franceville – a playback of the semi-final game of AFCON 2008 hosted by Ghana.
A goal from the younger Ayew, Jordan, who had been heavily criticised for his not- too- impressive showing for the Stars, and later a penalty goal from Andre in the dying minutes of the game, set the Black Stars up to a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo in their quarter-final clash at the Stade d’Oyem .
The victory also restored Ghana’s record of reaching the penultimate round of each of the last six AFCON tournaments. Despite an impressive victory achieved through a fine team effort, it was the family affair which remained on the lips of fans after the match as the brothers both scored for Ghana in a competitive match on the same day.
On an afternoon when striker Gyan failed to pass a fitness test to make his 100th international appearance, Aston Villa’s Jordan fitted well into the captain’s shoes with a man-of-the-match display, capped with that important goal which pushed him to tears of relief and joy.
It was Ghana’s resilience and mental toughness in the second half which made the difference after their opponents wasted many scoring chances in the first half but failed to find the net even on occasions the Ghanaian defence looked out of sorts.
As early as the sixth minute the Stars were nearly punished after Afful’s back pass to his goalie was intercepted by Dieudone Mbokani Bezua whose shot hit the post before the ball was cleared out of danger.
Razak Braimah came to Ghana’s rescue two minutes later after saving Paul Mpoku’s grounder as the Leopards went on the prowl in search of a goal to unsettle the Stars who settled down by the 15th minute with Thomas Partey, Wakaso Mubarak and Afriyie Acquah covering a lot of space and pushing the frontline men, Andre and Jordan Ayew forward.
While Ghana won more possession in the first half, the Congolese defended strongly and stroked the ball around and attempted to open up the Ghanaian defence from the flanks where Harrison Afful and Frank Acheampong struggled to keep up with the pace of the strong Congolese forwards, as the central defensive pair of John Boye and Daniel Amartey closely marked Bezua.
Four minutes into the second half, DR Congo goalie, Matampi Lay scored full marks as he saved Wakaso’s 30-metre freekick with his legs. A minute later, the TP Mazembe shot-stopper again came to his side’s rescue as he saved Partey’s ground shot after Jordan broke free on the left and cut into the opponent’s goal area and was brought down but the ball found the Atletico Madrid midfielder in firing range. The Stars’ tails were up and it was just a matter of time to break the deadlock.
Jordan on the 57th minute, stepped up to the plate as he shot the Stars ahead with a classic strike, latching onto a through pass from Wakaso and beating his marker on the run before unleashing a shot beyond the reach of the Congo goalie.
However, the Stars were punished for a momentary loss of concentration as Congo cancelled the lead four minutes later. It was Mpoku who saw the Ghanaian defenders out of position as he received a pass from a quickly taken free kick and immediately fired a long shoot past a stranded Braimah.
Game on. The Congolese looked fired up by the equaliser and opened up the game which became their undoing. In the 77th minute Atsu broke free on the right and sprinted with the ball into the Congolese penalty box, only to be pushed down by his marker for a spot kick which was drilled home by the Ghana captain for a ticket to the semi-finals and a date with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun.
Ghana: Razak Braimah, Harrsion Afful, John Boye, Daniel Amartey, Frank Acheampong, Afriyie Acquah, Mubarak Wakaso, Christian Atsu, Thomas Partey, Andre Ayew; Jordan Ayew