Stadium: Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa
Attendance: 34,812
Match Time: 14:00 GMT, June 19, 2010
Panstil sustained a horrible injury at the end. Getty Images
Stats:
22 shots on goal
6 corners
50% possession
Two points dropped, one point gained. That's what it was.
Ghana lost a chance to potentially get out of Group D. No matter what anyone says, we should have won. Ten men in the first half for your opponent means that you go for the kill, not sit and be composed. That said, a draw is better than a loss and we go into the Germany tie with another draw or win on our minds...
Now that you've seen Ghana's two games, let's ask again:
See full match report here. Ratings and video highlights below:
Ghana 1-1 Australia - Highlights
Simão | MySpace Video
Ratings
Richard Kingson – 6 - Started the game by making some errors and capping it with being ‘Jabulanied’. Made some crucial saves in the final parts of the second half, though. Admittedly, Ghana’d have gone down had Kingson not covered for poor defense.
John Pantsil – 6 – Like in the first game with Serbia, this is not the right-full back we know. Doesn’t surge forward with dangerous plays these days and allowed the Aussies to use his side in the second half. Maybe Inkoom will be used against Germany, with the unfortunate injury he sustained at the end.
Jonathan Mensah – 6 – Being thrown at the lions in the middle of the World Cup is no joke and for all his obvious inexpererience, handled himself well. Don’t forget this is his third cap for the senior side but Ghana clearly need Mensah and/or Vorsah back quickly. Did well to give Ghana the penalty, though.
Hans Adu-Sarpei – 6 – When Ghana had the man advantage, Sarpei was expected to use his side as an attacking option, but didn’t. Defensively made few, if any, mistakes but was tactically out of touch with the rest of the game.
Anthony Annan – 6.5 – Holding the midfield seems to come natuarllay, but he takes the blame for the foul and subsequent goal scored by the Aussies. Apart from that and the (harsh) yellow, he was solid.
Lee Addy – 5 – Disappointing, for someone who went the whole nine yards with Ghana at the Nations Cup, his touch at centre-back wasn’t assured. Needs to be calm and his yellow card was totally unnecessary.
Kevin-Prince Boateng – 6 – was not impressive on the whole. Yes, had some deft touches but couldn’t keep the pressure on the Aussies as he was expected to be the driving force once they went a man down. Substitution in second half was spot on.
Prince Tagoe – 5 – Woeful. His replacement did not come soon enough. Shooting instead of passing, unable to run at the ’Roos, could not play his role on the right well. Where is the old Prince Tagoe?
Kwadwo Asamoah – 7 – The creative hub of Ghana’s play, he was not allowed to do much damage. Also started trying long shots even when he had to pass. However, he set the pace of the game till he went off, although by his standards, did not sparkle. Wasted a fair few freekicks, too.
Andre Ayew – 7 – Hard to find a player better than him in the last two games. Tireless, was the main architect of Ghana’s penalty. Interplay with Asamoah was good but got tired in the middle of the second half. Definitely Ghana’s brightest spot so far.
Asamoah Gyan – 7 – converting only penalties may not be enough for strikers, but he’s getting Ghana precious points. Harassing the Aussies from start till finish but Gyan needs to improve his final touch and scoring. Ghana needs goals from open play, not just gifted penalties.
Subs
Quincy Owusu Abeyie – 5 – Stepovers were nice - and useful - this time! Did not have a lot of time to impose himself but definitely played better than Tagoe. Still, his output does not equal his efforts.
Sulley Muntari – n/a – Was on for just 12 minutes. Provided two good passes that could have caused damage. That aside, time was too short to make an impact.
Mathew Amoah – n/a – Even shorter time to do any damage, makes you wonder why he was brought on at the time.
Coach Milovan Rajevac – 7 – He’s got Ghana 4 points, but you feel he could have done better with tactics especially when Kewell was shown the red. Should have piled on the pressure, not sit back and hope. Changes were a bit too late, just like in the Serbia game. That said, he may yet get the Stars into the second round.
Your own ratings are, as always, welcome.
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