DR Congo rally to hold Ghana in Africa Cup of Nations thriller
Posted On Sunday, 20th January 2013
Christian Atsu of Ghana
Ghana played out an entertaining 2-2 with DR Congo in Port Elizabeth on Sunday in their Group B 2013 African Cup of Nations opener.
The Black Stars allowed a winning position to slip by after taking a 2-0 lead before the 50th minute mark.
But a second half charge from the Leopards handed Claude Le Roy’s troops a share of the spoils thanks to goals from captain Tresor Mputu Mabi and Dieumerci Mbokani.
It was Ghana who made the first move of the match when Christian Atsu’s incisive cross was cleared by Larrys Mabiala for a corner-kick but the Congelese managed to deal with it.
At the other end, midfielder Derek Boateng put a nice intervention to deny Mputu Mabu who was on the break.
DR Congo fired the first warning shot when experienced striker Lomana Lualua smashed the woodwork after Mputu’s excellent rucfrom the right.
Mputu missed the match’s first real chance when the TP Mazembe star shockingly shot wide after being teed up from 12 yards inside the box by striker Mbokani.
Ghana responded seven minutes later with a goal threatening strike from 20-yards courtesy of Albert Adomah, but that went off target.
Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan was put through on a one-on-one situation but disappointingly shot wide on the half hour mark.
But there was joy nine minutes later when Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu opened the scoring which happened to be the tournament’s first goal.
Ghana went into the break with the 1-0 lead despite chasing shadows.
Juventus star Kwadwo Asamoah grabbed the second for Ghana four minutes after the break when he headed in from a corner-kick which rattled the inside of the crossbar, 2-0.
Captain Mputu pulled one back by finishing off a nice move which carved the Ghana defence open in the 53rd minute, 2-1.
Debutant Akaminko pulled the shirt of striker striker Mbokani inside the box and the Anderlecht danger man converted from the penalty spot to draw the Leopards level on 68 minutes, 2-2.
A great save from Ghana goalkeeper Fatau Dauda to deny Yousuf Mulumbu the third goal after a brilliant move from the wings kept the scores level.
DR Congo keeper Kidibia twice had to deny Gyan by parrying away his efforts.
Ghana’s next game is against Mali at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Thursday while DR Congo entertain Niger.
Ghana line up: Fatau Dauda, ohn Pantsil, Jerry Akaminko, John Boye, Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, Derek Boateng/Anthony Annan, Albert Adomah/Harrison Afful, Christian Atsu/Mohammed Rabiu, Mubarak Wakaso, Asamoah Gyan.
Watch video highlights of the match below and make your comments in the box beneath
Source: MTNfootball.com
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I hope the ghana team read this.. you had better pull your socks and take heed to this warning. you are in a group with 3 francophone countries. i assure you that hayatou has put all in place to ensure we dont get through so take your matches seriously and stop relaxing after scoring 2 goals. the ref was bias as i have ever seen. no yellow cards for congo which is absurd! so please get your act together.
GHANA VS CONGO DR
SOMETIMES, I DONT KNOW WAT AA IS THINKING
PLAY THE 5 3 2 FORMATION. PLAY BREAK N PASS BALL. 2/3 TOUCHES ONLY FOR EVERY PLAYER…AT ALL TIMES
IN THE FIRST HALF, U COULD VISIBLY SEE THAT GYAN NEEDS HELP. HE NEEDS SOMEONE TO DO GIVE N GO!
THE MIDFIELD IS NON EXISTENT, AND DEREK IS NOT DISCIPLINED. DEREK DOSENT FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. HE IS USELESS!
THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEREK ARE VERY SIMPLE…
A. BREAK/STOP ATTACKING ADVANCES OF OPPONENTS INTO THE GH HALF
B. RELEASE THE BALL TO THE WINGERS OR THE $TRIKERS AND REST. I REPEAT, NO BACK PASSES!
THIS ISNT WAT DEREK WAS DOING. HE WAS CAUGHT TRYING TO BE A STAR ON THE FIELD. HE RARELY TRIES TO STOP OPPONENTS ATTACKS INTO THE GH HALF.
ON THE OCASSION THAT HE DOES, DEREK IS SEEN HOLDING UNTO THE BALL LIKE HE THINKS HE IS MARADONNA OR MESSI. IDIOT, JUST WIN THE BALL AND PASS IT
I TOLD U TO LEAVE DEREK ALONE. NOW U SEE?
I DONT SEE ANY URGENCY, AND SERIOUNESS WITH THE TEAM, YET
THEY R NOT URGENT IN FORCING THE ISSUE. THE BEST PLAYERS THUS FAR HAS BEEN BADU, WAKASSO, AKAMINKO, FATAU
ASAMOAH IS LEAKING THE LEFT BACK AT TIMES. OUR 4 N 5 PLAYERS NEED TO BE AWAKE AT ALL TIMES IN THE 18YARD BOX WHEN THE OPPONRNTS ARE ATTACKING
AA IS NOW PAYING THE PRICE FOR NOT CALLING NATURAL LEFT BACKS LIKE DAVID ADDY AND NANA ASARE
WHY DONT U USE KISSI BOATENG, HUH? U KNOW KISSI BOATENG IS NOT UP TO STANDARD SO WHY DID U EVEN CALL HIM FOR THIS TOURNAMNT?
THE TEAM IS NOT DISCIPLINED. LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF CARDS GH RECEIVED?
HW3, AFFUL CANT PLAY THE 3. THE CONGO DR PLAYERS ARE RUNNING PAST HIM LIKE WATER.
START AFFUL ON THE 2 AND SIT DOWN PAINSTIL TILL THE LATTER STAGES OF THE SECOND HALD. PAINSTIL DID A GOOD JOB AT HOLDING THE RIGHT BACK SPOT.
AA BETTER PUT WAKASSO N KISSI BOATENG AT THE LEFT BACK. MOVE KASA TO ATTACKIN MIDFIELDER.
I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY BOYE WAS ALLOWED TO START. AA, SHOULD USE AKAMINKO AND AWAL AS STARTERS INSTEAD
THIS IS A WOEFUL PERFORMANCE. IM DISAPPOINTED. WE CANT GO ANYWHERE IS OUR DEFENCE MAKES CARELESS MISTAKES LIKE THIS..TWEAAAA!
STRIKERS/attackers win you a match, DEFENDERS win you a tournament.
PLAY THE 5 3 2 FORMATION. PLAY BREAK N PASS BALL. 2/3 TOUCHES ONLY…AT ALL TIMES
GYAN IS A FOOLISH STRIKER. HE HAS NO KILLER INSTINCT INFRONT OF THE NET. ANY STRIKER WHO CANT SMELL BLOOD INFRONT
OF THE NET IS USELESS, IMPOTENT STRIKER!
WHY ARE THE NAMES ON THESE FOOLISH TYE N DYE PUMA JERSEYS IN SMALL CAPS. I WANT TO KNOW WHY? GFA, DID PUMA GIVE US A DISCOUNT TO HVE
OUR NAMES IN SMALL LETTERS OR NOT? ATROCIOUS JERSEYS FROM PUMA. AFCON HAS TURNED INTO A PUMA FASHION SHOWCASE….FOOLISH GFA!
NYANTAKYI NEEDS BINOCULARS NOT GLASSES, BCOS HE STILL CANT SEE SHIT!
Batoto ba Congo Bazali likolo,Tres bien.
Next we support Chipolopolo…Ghana Wawa!
ANNAN FOR DEREK. THAT WAS AWAY ONLY MISTAKE AND IT COST US. FOR LETTING DEREK START AHEAD OF ANNAN. WE WERE JUST LUCKY TO SCORE FIRST. DRC COULD HAVE SCORED AHEAD OF US. ANNAN FOR DEREK!
Am disapointed but not too much.this is our first game so let just wait for our nxt game.i was really disapointed when atsu was taken off.akaminko is a suspect.when we scored the second goals.all we have to do is keep defendin.instead of tryin to score.And i really think we should hav never left dede behind.the spirit of that guy when he is on the field is grazy.jpencil has to go.
The team needs to back up. It sad that most of our top players are not at this tournament. Essien-Madrid, KPB-AC Milan, Sulley-AC Milan, Ayew bros-Marseille.
Akwasi Appiah and his GFA cronies are prejudice and discriminate against foreign born Ghanaian players.
So far they’ve managed to eliminate excellent players (Ayew brothers and Kwarasey) with remarkable talents simply because they lack the skills to manage them.
In addition, they’ve made no attempts to recruit a foreign born Ghanaian player since Mr. Appiah took over. Weekly reports around Europe and the U.S. reveal remarkable young talents in Germany, Italy, and the U.S., but no attempts are being made to boost the squad.
They are obviously comfortable with players who wouldn’t question their shambolic decision making processes.
And the result is 2-2 draw against a team that only agreed to participate in the tournament yesterday.
All who advocated for local coaches should think AGAIN!
FOR KWADWO ASAMOAH TO ASSIST IN THE FIRST AND
SCORE THE SECOND,I BELLIEVE HE HAS NO BUSINESS
BEING FORCED TO PLAY AS A DEFENDER.ATSU I BELIEVE SHOULD BE USED AS A SUB,BECAUSE WHEN HE COME DRIBBLING AND RUNNING WHEN THE OPPONENTS ARE TIRED
WILL HELP.FOR THE DEFENCE NO NEED TALK ABOUT THEM
THEY KNOW IN THEIR HEARTS ,THEIR PERFOMANCE LEVEL.ASAMOAH GYAN HAS BECOME RUSTY.MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE.GOD BLESS GH.
i prefer Jonathan Mensah to akaminko..he looke uncomfortable throughout the match ..Akwasi Appiah shd Play wakaso on the left side instead of kwadjo asamoah..kwadjo asamoah can bring more creativity in the midfield and 0ne top System doesnt work in africa..the congolese were so strong to Play alone striker against them…i hope all will be well against mali come thursday
how stupid decision to snub Dede Ayew it was..the guy is missed..we miss the game spirit n all his tactics
Ha ha ha ha! Ghana. Wake up.
I am a Nigerian, Ghana played well just that DRC is there match in all ramification.They should take there next match seriously otherwise the worst may happen.I wish them the best of luck.
These team aint gud enuf simple.y play k asamoah at LB, when u know he is not a defender. Where was the determination n fighting spirit. The playaz relax after scoring two goals. The coach need to do something about the team’s mental toughness and pick the ryt squad.
We have to call a spade a spade. Black Stars lucky to have escape this one with a point. Ghana was unconvincing,no cohesion in their play,lost all the fifty fifty balls and to make matters worse couldn’t hold on to the ball. But how on earth would you play your real playmaker on the left hand side of defence? To me this amount to copying the Juve system blindly. I’ve said this before and will say it again;Ghana do not possess the caliber of players Juve have that affords them that rare luxury of using Asamoah they way he has been for them. Ghana cannot afford same,not when you don’t have anyone to assume Asamoahs natural role in the team. Akwasi Appiah needs to rethink his strategy before our next game against Mali. All is not lost yet !
I agree with you 100%. Copying Juventus is a senseless decision, when you do not have the same caliber of players. Atsu faded off in this game because he missed the usual combination he gets from either Kwadwo Asamoah, Muntari or Dede Ayew.
Secondly we should have concentrated our game play in the mid field after we went ahead 2-0. And try to hit on the counter. What was the point of attacking when you are leading by two goals.
Congo shld hv won game,am sad,bt hopefuly ghana is goin to lose to mali
oooo what tactics of dede, u mean fall down a 1000 tyms and break play. Please people, didn’t we draw guinea last yr with dede playing? Double fuqing standards. Off with y’all shalatans.
Please, the GFA should better go and bring back our MILO from SERBIA so that we can have our energy of 2010 back. We need to have energy, which was seriously lacking in the match. The organisation was bad, midfield, dead and attack impotent. It is because we have taken MILO for a long time. BRING BACK MILOVAN RAJEVAC
Judging from todays display i guess Ivory Coast are favourites
Mputu and Mbokani should have finished you alone without the rest of squad.
Lualua’s cross-bar’s shot??.. Lucky team. Forget the cup. The cup belongs to Congo.
akaminko???paintsil???albert adomah??..dem no get gud game kraa…asamoah gyan was awuful in de 1st half n i think A.A shd stop playin 1 top if he really wants to win de cup..
my startin line-up for de mali game will be;
dauda, afful, k.asamoah, boye, vorsah, badu, annan, wakaso, rabiu, boakye yiadom, gyan
D team dat went camping in abu dhabi! Amidaus wld hav defeated dr congo wit 2 goals down wat a shame on kwesi appiah.
lol, plus nido or cowbell?
its obvious kimco doesnt knw wat he’s talkn abt. Dede was missed in dis particular game. Its as simple as dat. Wit our most creative player being used as a defender we needed someone like dede who cud hold on to de ball.
I miss dede
Am Zambian n I thnk Ghana perfomd far below their standard,it may bcoz they are withut most influencial playaz bt could hv stil done beta tht. They r the only African team tht hv impressd me @ the world cup n shudn’t struggle @ afcon, mayb against teams lyk zambia, lol! Beta luck nxt tym black starz!
Am Zambian n I thnk Ghana perfomd far below their standard,it mayb bcoz they are withut most influencial playaz bt could hv stil done beta
thn tht. They r the only African team tht hv impressd me @ the world cup n shudn’t struggle @ afcon, unless against teams lyk zambia, lol! Beta luck nxt tym black starz!
WOW!! WOW!! My GODO!! What a Game!! Ghana are favourites to pack bags!They where outplayed by an under dog DR CONGO.We all saw it live!They are lucky to have even drawn.The scores should have read CONCO DR 4:GHANA 2.Ghana are going no where! there in NO DEFENCE that is WHY CHIPOLOPOLO is gona hammer GHANA again! FACE the facts!GHANA has NO DEFENCE period!!!Lets not even talk about Ghana lifting the trophy FAR FAR from.The profesor from Ghana is very right!!Ghana are gonna pack bags very soon! You may not like what i have written but THIS IS THE TRUTH…..GHANA will NOT lift the TROPHY!!I can see ZAMBIA defending and taking it back to their country!!!Serious!!wow! wow!
it luks lyke Ghana as no defence becos sumone on the technical bench is in luv with Derek Boateng. lmao
all u guys shut up ghana played good. spain lost their first game of the cup and they ended up winning the entire cup. today wasnt are day we need to to stop criticizing and start praying that we win. watch if we star boakye yidaom we will win
Congo played well…they gave their opponents no respect and controlled the midfield.Well done guys even though u could have easily won the match.
ghanains nows how 2 talk papa.
Dede Dede why …we miss you!Now lets pray 4 a draw in the Mali -Niger game otherwise things might turn out against us.
Kwesi Appiah is the worse coach Black Stars coach i have ever seen in many years,when he won the 2 trial matches people and started praising him,i am not sure we will win even 1 match,we will not qualify for the next stage of the competition.
Absolutely no cohesion in the Ghanaian team…i thought the team was now jelling up,now u see what AFCON is all about eeh!!
Derek boateng needs to improve his decision making FAST! he takes too long on the freaking ball.
You make me laugh’favourites to pack their bags’ so funny!
What a patetic team that was put on the field. This Black Star team lack guts. It was painful to watch such as mediocre performance by a Ghana team.
Asamoah Gyan is showing what we have all suspected, that he is the coaches pet. He scores tons of goals at the awful UAE league but internationally he becomes lost, unskilled. His performance today shows why he should not ever be called. Two goals that he could have scored. He lacks creativity, skills and grit as a striker. Our midfield was wide open with congo Dr doing whatever they wanted with the ball for as long as they could with BS players running around like chickens.
Akwesi Appiah once again showed his lack of football brains, totally lost on the side line with no answers.
I would be very shocked if we get pass the group stage if Asamoah Gyan is not relegated to the bench and the defense strenghtened. Because Ghanaians talk too much and we only hear ourselves talking, we think we ARE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO FOOTBALL IN Africa but that we are dreaming because the other African countries are sticking to us evrytime they get a chance because they are smart to get our former coaches who have all been trained as coaches and not puppets of loud mouths at GFA.
And yes I expect the uneducated in this forum to come insulting rather than counter ones argument with intelligent points.
My brother. You just said it all. There are to many uneducated people with access to the Internet. How on earth did we think that this AA guy could do something good. We had to struggle to qualify for this tourney. Instead of uniting players and building a team, he was rather interested in fighting with the ghost of Abedi Pele. I lost hope the very day he released his provisional squad and stated that Kwadwo Asamoah was to fill the left back position. He certainly has no clues. This Asamoah Gyan guy goes on exile and returns to find the captains band waiting for him. Why will he not think he is untouchable? Now he was doing press conferences and bluffing as to why he didn’t want player that even a fool could tell is good. I hold nothing against him. He should just do the talking on the field. No press conferences and media releases, play the game.
As soon as they scored the 2 goals, they started thinking of the $15,000,– bonus and forgot to finish the game. The players also lack stamina, they are tired, from what no one knows! If AA is copying Juventus, then he should copy properly : Juventus plays 3 defensive left positions with Kwadwo Asamoah playing a sort of “attacking defensive” role(Confused eh??- this a subject of “advanced football coaching”)A vital LINK in the team is missing!!!! Better Luck nexttime Black Stars!!!
Actually the truth is Ghana was playing a club of Congo TP MAZEMBE..The only players missing from the DRC CONGO TEAM to make it complete are the Zambian players…SORRY for now we all know now that football has left Ghana.I am very i do not know how Ghana is gonna survive quick counter attacks by NORTH AFRICAN teams????Ghana has no no DEFENCE..ALL the teams where watching!!Is this what some one can call QUALITY FOOTBALL.Congo played better football period!!!
Wow Mojahadine! Where have you been all these while?Absolutely spot on !
KWADWO ASAMOAH IA A LEFT SIDE MIDFIELDER FOR JUVE, NOT A LEFT BACK. AFFUL IS A RIGHT BACK DEFENDER FOR ESPERANCE, NO LEFT BACK/3. I SWEAR IS AA MENTALLY CONSTIPATED OR WAT? MAYBE, HE SHOULD ALLOW KWARASAY TO PLAY AS A STRIKER AND DEREK BOATENG AS GOALIE. NKWASIAS3M. AA DONT KNOW WAT HE IS DOING. HE IS INTELLECTUALLY BANKRUPT. MAXWELL KONADU IS THE ONE DOING ALL THE WORK WHILES AA TAKES THE CREDIT
Congo, Congo the Leopards!!. Why or why did you let off this Chiwawa of Ghana??. Ahhhh.
Don’t let us get hold of you again.
you lucky team. Mpuntu and Mbokani alone should have killed you.
We outplayed you. We should have scored 5 goals you lucky Chiwawa.
If we get you again?, I mean if we get you again we will behead you.
I MISS DEDE TOO,U know why Ghana has not been able to lift the Trophy for 31 years is because we fail to retain Players who have played AFCON before.Look @ Egypt team,Congo DR,Zambia…all their players have stayed together for soo many years and they play soo well as a Team….You know common Sense should have told the Coach that Jordan played AFCON for the first time last year and he might have matured to play this one.Dede Ayew was Missed because is is the Ball juggler for the team and he comes back to defend the LB.
I admire the faces of new players but onething we should know is that they have not gain AFCON experience before.Look @ a player like Emmanuel Clottey I dont understand why AA called him .
GOD HELP US!!!
oh bra jet, simple me and you sef you no fi convert. that’s what happens when you do not play in a competitive league.
you score a couple of goals and you think you are all that, nkwasiasem aa kwakwa!
Mamodu Gaye has said ghana shud start packin the bags very slowly now.they scored and won all the matches they were suppose to win during the preparations so the rest as they say is history.
Mamodu Gaye has said ghana shud start packin the bags very slowly now.they scored and won all the matches they were suppose to win during the preparations so the rest as they say is history.
Gyan shd stop being childish n complecent n b serious cos drogba n keita hv seen it all in football yet being very humble n serious n run 4 through ball as if they were 18yr olds
y are u guys going crazy i hope you know that in 2010 ghana lost to ivory coast in there first game and they ended up in the finals of afcon. stop all this nonsense that ghana wont make it far
We lost the game from the bench a good coach will win a game by a 1-0 scoreline. I don’t understand AA why wait until u are tied 2-2 b4 bringing in defensive minded players like Annan and Afful makes no sense, u bring them in when you are trying to maintain a lead or preserve the scoreline but if he wanted to win the game it would have been wiser to bring in an offensive midfielder and and a striker. He can’t think under pressure these no way Milo or Tetteh would have lost this game after going up 2-0. This is incredible I thought he had finally gotten his tactics downpact after those results he got against Egypt and Tunisia, but whatever be the case he needs to step his coaching up
Please, the GFA should better go and bring back our MILO from SERBIA so that we can have our energy of 2010 back. We need to have energy, which was seriously lacking in the match. The organisation was bad, midfield dead and attack impotent. It is because we have taken MILO for a long time. BRING BACK MILOVAN RAJEVAC
Please, the GFA should better go and bring back our MILO from SERBIA so that we can have our energy of 2010 back. We need to have energy, which was seriously lacking in the match. The organisation was bad, midfield dead, and attack impotent. It is because we have taken MILO for a long time. BRING BACK MILOVAN RAJEVAC
TP Mazembe only needed another 10 minutes to kill ghana!
Ghanaians please go and sleep ok!
Hold your guns guys. The Ghanaian team I saw in action today will win this championship. They are only going to get better with every match. A lot of youngsters playing their first major competition. They will learn.
The sons of Abedi Pele are missing…they are fast an furious!they set the temple of Ghana but yesterday we saw Ghana D play against TP Mazembe.The question is …is this the new discovered football of Ghana!!! Shame to you who talk too much.You are big big trouble.Mali will definately beat you!!! You are NO game at all.The Ghana we saw at World Cup is dead!! period.That team has bn destroyed and you come up with a new fresh finished…One thing is very certain you are favourites to pack!!!Mamodu Gaye has said Ghana shud start packin the bags very slowly now!! Even your own proffessor from Ghana proffesied doom for Ghana!!
So if they are talking about taking locally based players to tournaments, should it be at the expense of the more qualified ones? If Kusi Boateng can play at left back, why use K Asamoah there? We have Lee Addy,M Alhassan and Nana Kwesi Asare. Both Addy and Alhassan have tournament experience and that is what wins tournaments.
Mali are a very balanced team and play as a unit…so we better watch the way we approach the game.They hold all the cards right now!!!
I think we played a good game. We need to work on our defense.Ghana’s defense has become to leaky.
Gyan has to be serious infront of Goal.
For Christ sake he is the captain.
Some bad news concerning yesterday’s matches. Ghana drew against DRC and Mali came victorious from Niger clash. And some relatively good news. Mali failed to heavily score. That’s just about the size of it. Let’s now see what are the facts that the A.A contigent faces. Ghana seems to lack of a balanced function on the pitch, equally observed in defense and attack. In the defense axis, Boye(clearly the boss over there) can alternate from Akaminko to Jonathan. These two seem to blend nicely with the Rennes player. No problem there, albeit some might argue on the fact of a great afflux of players, on the detriment of other positions. However, the ghanaian headache is observed in the flanks. On the right, you have Paintsil and Afful. Paintsil is a half right back, a fake somehow. Even during his heydays in Fulham, he was behaving more as a central defender. Actually, they wanted him to do so, that’s why they picked him in the first place. In the narrow Craven Cottage pitch, Fulham’s aim was to ciment their back line. They were playing the long balls towards a lone forward, so they didn’t need a real back, so to speak. Yesterday, we saw a veteran Paintsil, who doesn’t have anymore the speed, not only to attack but also to deffend. That neutralised the whole flank. Because, when you seek to a 4-3-3 formation, you have to have side backs who assist the wingers, especially when you have old fashioned wingers like Adomah, who can’t hold the ball nor dribble while attacking. How many times we saw Paintsil overlaping Adomah yesterday? None! Never he did that during the whole match. So Adomah was of no use. It was like Ghana was playing with less men. Adomah is like Quincy. He can function in the counter attack, while having space in front of him. Otherwise, in case you use him in a match of strong possession, as Ghana does in the A.A era, you need to provide him assistance from the back. Afful may be an average footballer but he is the real deal for this system. I saw him in the Egypt game and he had a good interplay with Adomah. Things are even worse on the other side. Kwadow, a left back? No way! Juve don’t use him like that, it is a totally different system and formation they apply on the pitch! Why Akaminko was left alone with MBbokany? You wouldn’t expect the best defender on the planet to come victorious from an one to one clash with a good forward. You just need a second player to assist over there. And Kwadow was nowhere there! So, the question rises. What other options you have for the side back position? Only one, if you want my opinion. Wakaso. The few times i’ve seen him playing, i got the impression that he is more of a left back than a winger. In any case, you don’t spoil the only playmaker the team is left with(Kwadow), by having him to play as a left back. Wakaso can only perform on the line, whereas Kwadow can be used in more central roles. Insted, we saw(again) Wakaso as a central midfielder. His defensive behavior was poor, as was Badu’s actually. These two had to assist both the side backs and central defenders. They both failed in several occasions, Wakaso, because he can’t perform that well in a central role and Badu, because he wants to play the Maradona. I don’t understand this man. He is so crucial for the team but he often seems to have two eyes for the attack and neglects his defensive duties. And he has this bad habit to shoot the ball, under whatever circumstances. Yesterday, poor ol Boateng was left alone in the centre to deal with the opponents. Ghana was outnumbered and dwarfed by DRC on this crucial domain. The congolese team may not be that glamorous, but they don’t lack cohesion and homogeneity. Is this enough for them to beat Ghana? No, they only managed a draw but these elements proved more than enough for a better zambian team to be crowned champions of Africa last year. And they seem to start from a good position this year too! Ghana is not a badly trained team. The contrary i’d say. And for me, A.A deserves a credit for that. But that’s not enough. You need to galvanise the team’s spirit by making the correct decisions. Niger seemed a better team than Mali, in terms of discipline and cohesion. Still, they lost the match. Ghana should use all of their assets wisely. In the absence of Dede Ayew, the only potential leader on the pitch is Kwadow Asamoah. You can’t expect your leader to play as a left back, can you? You bring him on the midfield area and you have two box to box central midfielders of quality. That way, Badu can concentrate in his defensive duties and can assist more the defensive midfielder. Annan is coming back and that is a huge relief for the coach. And you don’t try to ruin a young man’s career before it begins. I can understand that Atsu was living dangerously in some occasions in midfield and he didn’t assist the left back as much as he should. Still, he behaved mature while attacking. He was passing the ball and playing collectively. Look at the first goal. I was stunned by his level of maturity and team spirit. I fear that if Badu was at his stead, he would shoot insted of passing the ball. The coach shouldn’t of pulling him out, just because tactically he is not ready… yet. You risk to shatter his psychology that way. Atsu was not the problem in yesterday’s performance by the BS. We saw this after he was gone. From then on, the good ol(lol) british way to attack. The long ball towards an under performing Gyan! And not only that. More… long balls to Gyan(lol). Are the BS a rugby team with a forward pass? I don’t think they should be. Anyway. Next opponent, a… basketball team
I mean, no offense to Mali but where do they find them to be that tall?! Tricky match. I didn’t like the way they played against Niger but they got the three points and that’s all that matters. They will be extra motivated now. Ghana and Mali seem to be frequent opponents in the group stages in the last editions of the AFCON. Ghana always seem to find the way but nothing is for granted in football. At least, they shouldn’t rely on this factor, the recent history favoriting them. In any case, DRC seem to be in the better position after the first fixture. Not only because they were not beaten by Ghana but also because Mali failed to heavily score against Niger. It is still up to Ghana but they need to capitalise on the good preparation, stop experimenting and find their roles as individuals and more important, as a team.
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