Ghana vs. Burkina Faso: 6 Things We Learned from AFCON Semifinal
Posted On Thursday, 7th February 2013
Ghana players
Following the 4-1 mauling Mali experienced at the hands of a resurgent Nigerian squad, our second semifinal of Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations action wasn’t quite as one-sided.
Burkina Faso and Ghana saw a back-and-forth bout that lasted more than 120 minutes, and it was only through a penalty shootout that a fatigued Burkina Faso side emerged as eventual victors.
With more than two hours of football to consider, both nations will certainly have pointers to take away from their semifinal performance before once again taking to the stage this coming weekend.
With an AFCON final and third place playoff to think of, respectively, Burkina Faso and Ghana certainly showed their share of shortcomings and positives alike, six of which we’ll discuss here.
Appiah Right to Place Faith in the Youth
Although age brings with it all the benefits of experience, wisdom and the advantages of playing in one’s physical prime, there’s a lot to be said for trusting in the stars of tomorrow.
At the club level, players are being bought at increasingly young ages in a bid to prepare them for the prime phases of their career, although they might not spend that time preparing at their parent club.
On the national stage, things are slightly different and the decision to induct younger players at such an elite tier of football despite what risks they might be running by doing so.
Against Burkina Faso, Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah fielded a starting XI showcasing an average age of just 24 years old. A squad that, were it not for John Pantsil’s inclusion, would not have had one player over the age of 30 within it.
What’s more, the Black Stars’ five-man midfield had an aggregate age of only 22 years old, an encouraging decision from the manager considering the engine room is considered the crux of Ghana’s game plan.
To see a manager fielding such inexperienced figures at this stage of the competition shows a determination for future success but also that the African nation is growing magnificently in terms of youth development.
Stallions’ Success Down to Defensive Stature
In 90 minutes, an underdog can often be subject to a very large amount of attacking pressure. In 120 minutes, that pressure can sometimes be increased exponentially and such was the case on Wednesday.
In total, Appiah’s Ghana had 21 shots at the Burkina Faso goal, seven of which were on target and only one let in during normal and extra time.
Although Daouda Diakite can be thanked massively for the job he did in restraining the Ghanaian attack, a great deal of the low goal count can also be attributed to the efforts of a non-stop Stallions defence.
Figures such as Paul Koulibaly, Bakari Koné and Mohamed Koffi were prime players in ensuring the Burkina Faso dream didn’t end prematurely. However, a massive effort from every Stallion to take to the bouncy Mbombela pitch was ultimately to thank for the result.
Prior to this game, Ghana had scored an average of two goals per game in the tournament and certainly had the talent necessary to ensure that run continued, but it wasn’t to be.
More than a few last-gasp tackles to account for, Burkina Faso may have displayed some desperate defending at times but are deservedly in their first AFCON final as a result.
Black Stars Show Player Prestige Isn’t Quite Enough
As with all underdog stories, Ghana took on the role of the party to have more talent, more skill and more weight behind their bid for the title heading into this classic encounter.
Conversely, Burkina Faso’s playing staff are far from being as acclaimed as their semifinal opponents but showed that games such as these are decided on more than reputation.
Compared to the stars of Ghana, some of whom playing at the height of Italian, Spanish and French football, there are relatively few worldly talents in the green of Burkina Faso but Wednesday’s clash showed that there’s an awful lot to be said for grit, willpower and resolve.
Limbs bruised and ligaments tightening, it was undoubtedly Burkina Faso that finished the dying minutes of normal as well as extra time the stronger of the two, and the underdog tale will live on for at least one more match as a result.
Ghanaian Inconsistency a Worrying Development
Having scored just 13 minutes into their meeting with the Stallions, Ghanaian eyes will have been focused as much upon where the second goal was scored as they were the first.
What followed for Kwesi Appiah’s outfit wasn’t only a scoreless 77 minutes, but more than an hour of complacency, lit into full ignition following the halftime break.
On countless occasion has a side come out following the midway point of a match and looked like a different side but the lack of mental fortitude to let such a lead slip is nevertheless off-putting for one of Africa’s strongest nations.
In the final half hour of normal time and also the majority of the extra 30 minutes, Ghana found themselves on the backfoot, with a particularly weakened focus on the defensive midfield areas in losing the pivotal central battle.
With the talent side of things seemingly in good spirits, the serious focus of development would appear to be in training such a young batch of players mentally, and making sure such overconfidence doesn’t remain an issue.
Burkina Faso Lacking Largely in Scoring Conviction
Although they might have reached the final, one thing Paul Put’s side will need to improve upon if they’re to succeed in completing this AFCON adventure the way they’d hope to is finishing off scoring opportunities.
Aristide Bancé was the man to lead the Stallions’ line against the Black Stars and the 28-year-old accounted for nine of the 22 shots on goal that Burkina Faso had on the evening.
Of those nine efforts, only four managed to find the target and while he might argue that he was unfortunate not to score more than just the one goal against Ghana, one needs to critique even the most positive points in pursuit of true improvement.
The Black Stars’ defence and goalkeeper, Fatau Dauda, certainly did their best in repelling Bancé’s advances as much as the rest of the Stallions’ side but can thank Lady Luck that a great deal of the opposition’s shots were off target.
A ratio of one accurate shot for every four shots is far from the average Put’s side will be aiming for heading into Sunday’s finale and will need to be a focus of their preparation indeed.
In the end, Bancé’s coolly finished, Panenka-style penalty will be the contribution he’s most remembered for in sending his nation through to their first ever AFCON final, which is slightly fortunate given other shortcomings shown in the match.
Technology in Football Raises Questions Once Again
Given the increasingly high profile of Africa’s finest football competition, it’s no wonder that the debate of how much influence technology should play in the sport has been raised once more.
Just 13 minutes in, we had our first reason to question a referee’s decision after Ghana were wrongfully awarded a penalty just minutes before Burkina Faso’s Jonathan Pitroipa went down in the opposition box to be denied the same outcome—again, wrongfully so.
Apart from fouls, there was also a series of goal-line clearances in the match, several of which were at the expense of the shooting Aristide Bancé who saw his efforts dismissed as goals.
On review, these particular decisions would appear to have been correct ones but that does nothing in disproving the notion that such occurrences could be decided much more easily and with more accuracy were some form of goal-line technology in play.
The latest, and perhaps most substantial reason for retrospective decision to be introduced came in the 117th minute when Jonathan Pitroipa was incorrectly judged to have dived in the box, earning a second yellow card for simulation and being sent off.
As a result, the midfielder will have no part to play in his country’s first ever Africa Cup of Nations final and is a massive loss to the Burkina Faso squad.
In other sports, the ability to look back at footage and make retrospective calls on certain matters has proven to do nothing but improve the overall accuracy of the game.
While these changes are slowly being introduced in football, there’s a lot to be said for how long such changes have taken and the lurching nature of their deployment.
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An example of poor officiating in the Ghana-Burkina Faso game
These achacha players are cowards!!!
Crap analysis! what is all this age nonsense? look at asamoah gyan and tell me he’s 26? 26 my foot! You beat minnows NIGER and CAPE VERDE!!! and we should hail you?! damn! You met your match in BF and you failed! Ghana is just lucky we had FAKE penalties awarded and UNLIKE Gyan, Wakaso didn’t miss any else we would have been eliminated at the group stage!!
The only lesson learnt is that Ghana is a crap team, left to me we have NEVER won the Afcon before because I as a person as not born as at 1982!
And for KWESI APPIAH Shame on you!!!! a big shame to you! protecting and promoting Gyan and trying all you can to silence the Ayew brothers! “Your Eye Die” Now your USELESS Gyan that you made captain just to kill the ambitions of Dede has failed! Just do the right thing and save your face! – football is NOT politics. nkwasiasem!!!!
THE EALIAR WE START RUNNING TO SERBIA THE BETTER.
IT’S PAINFUL,BUT WE DON’T DESERVE TO WIN WITH THIS
KIND OF PLAY.
GET RID OF APPIAH!
OUR PROBLEM WAS NOT THE PLAYERS, BUT THE COACH AND HIS FOOLISH BRAINS. TWEAAAA, APPIAH WO Y3 TOKE!
I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH OF HIM AND HIS STUPID ANTICS. HE IS NOT INTELLIGENT, AND HIS STUPID TACTICAL METHODS DONT YIELD RESULTS.
I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN HIM AS OPUR COACH. GET RID OF HIM. LET HIM GO N COACH HEARTS OF OAK OR SOME CLUB SOMEWHERE.
MAXWELL KONADU IS THE BEST MAN TO COACH GH BLACK STARS. IF WE CANT GIVE THE JOB TO DESAILLY, THEN MAXWELL MUST TAKEOVER.
APPIAH IS NOT GOOD. I HAVE SEEN ALL I NEED TO SEE FROM HIM. APPIAH TO ME LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE WHO IS NOT IN CONTROL OF HIMSELF OR HSI DECISIONS.
LIKE HE RELIES ON A DIETY OR SOME OUTSIDE FORCE TO BAIL HIM OUT.NOT A BRILLIANT COACH. HE CAN GET A JOB COACHING A CLUB IN GH OR ELSEWHERE
IN AFRICA. IF HE SUCEEDS, HE CAN COME BACK. WE DONT NEED NO MORE DADA BA COACHES FOR GBSTARS. APPIAH HASNT PROVEN HE DESERVES TO
COACH GBSTARS. HE WAS GIVEN THE JOB ON A SILVER PLATTER. GIVE THE JOB TO DESAILLY OR MAXWELL KONADU. LOOK AT KESHIE? GET RID OF APPIAH
OR ELSE GH WILL BOW OUT OF THE WCUP QUALIFIERS. TRUST ME!…..APPIAH, WO Y3 TOKE!……
Sorry my friends. This was a painful loss but it has nothing to do with the coach. As soon as Asamoah Gyan failed to convert on his breakaway opportunity in the first half I sensed that it was over. Big time players have to come through in the clutch. That did not happen today and we lost. Let us try to get the Bronze and qualify for WC. In spite of our problems, there is no reason this team cannot finish in the top five in Africa and qualify for the WC…
To save face Ghana government and d FA should have a joint statement that they condemn d ref’s decisions that looks like help to ghana. Ghana has lost face worldwide.
Pwahahahahahahha! Proud Ghanaians what have you to say now. You were outplayed by an enterprising Burkinabe team. Admit it Ghana, you lack class. You are a donkey team that stood no chance against the Stallions. I am prepared to lead the funeral procession from Nelspruit to Accra. I will also lead the funeral song because you are so much in grief that you can’t sing. Karma is a bitch. Hahahaha.
AS A ZAMBIAN ITS BETTER NOT GHANA. GHANA BELONGS TO THE REPEAT 3 AND 4 TH PLAY OFF. NOW YOU BELIEVE THAT HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. THATS HOW WE REPEATEDLY BEAT GHANA. NOW WAIT. EVEN THE LITTLE SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FOR YOUR POMPOSITY. NO WORLD CUP. YOU CANT WIN WITH YOUR BLOGGERS WITH INSULTING NAMES FOR THE GOD CHOSEN NATION.
YOUR OWN PROFESSOR TOLD YOU. ITS GROUP C AGAINST GROUP C.THE REAL GROUP OF DEATH. NOT YOUR OVERATINGS.http://www.ghanasoccernet.com/ghanaian-professors-predicts-ghana-afcon-doom/
The writer of this article should go back and research the background of the Burkina Faso players, most of them play for European Clubs.
When Ghana went up 1-0 the Coach should have brought on the full back to replace Paintsil. Akaminko would have been a good choice to protect the 1-0 lead until Ghana was able to score another goal. Why bring on a winger for a defender when you could win the game by playing defensive and counter attack? Ghana continued to attack as if they were behind and was trying to equalise, why? Milo who mentored Coach Appiah would have defended that one goal lead as if his life depended on it. Did Appiah really learn from 6 years of being an assistant?
@african,most of burkina faso players day play in second division
We lost this game from the midfield. DEREK BOATENG. Akwasi Appiah’s friend. Most of us supported A.A. to win the cup because we had no option. We all know DEREK is only good at fouling the opposition and giving passes which get intercepted by the opponent and brings pressure on thr defence but NO, A.A likes Derek Boateng.
We had a fit Annan on the bench, we could have taken Promising Frimpong but NO, A.A is a good friend of Derek Boateng the oldhorse.
By the way, if I may ask, why is the CAPTAIN of A soccer nation like Ghana plying his trade in THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES?
Can a team in ARAB emirates beat Italian seria B side sassuolo or French Ligue one side Marseille.?
Pitriopa and Dieumerci Mbokani of Burkina and DRC respectively play in the french Ligue 1. Look how sharp the were. IMAGINE IF ANYONE OF THOSE WERE OUR STRIKEMAN UPFRONT. Wait here comes the bitter truth bit… WE HAVE PLAYERS IN FRENCH LEAGUE 1 WHOSE CLUB DOMINATES THE CLUB OF THESE PLAYERS.
We have a worldcup winner French Captain who follows Ghana soccer and is Ghanaian and has tremendous exposure in top level soccer. THIS IS HUMAN RESOURCE WE ARE ALLOWING TO GO WASTE! because somebody hates confident and imposing people.
Nyantakyi of GFA either you sit up or you LEAVEEEE
My friend you have said it all. Doesn’t that type of decision making is why this guy needs to go? Why is this Akwesi Appiah even coaching the Ghana Black Stars instead of Sillas Tetteh or Kuuku Dadzie? Its all about butt kissing, brown nosing and tribalism.
If Sillas Tetteh has won a world championship before, wouldn’t that be natural to have him coach the Black Stars? He is very experience and further more he had a lot of these youngsters in his world championship team, he knows how to use them properly. Wouldn’t Common sense tell any intelligent GFA boss that he should been the first choice?
Look at the Black Stars team and compare them with what was on the field for Nigeria, they have a far smarter or better team with accurate passes and intelligence, no useless passes. They held the ball for as long as they could and that is what made Mali and Ivory Coast looked silly. Can the Black Stars play like that? Hell no. Not when they are being coached by Akwesi Appiah. He is not that smart.
Isn’t it also time to relieve Asamoah Gyan of his Black Star duties? His time has run out, has no creativity whatsoever. He is totally lacking as a striker and very very annoying to watch. We could have won yesterday’s game by three goals to one had it not been the mediocre performance of Asamoah Gyan. Those goals could have easily been scored by any local player but once again that idiotic coach kept playing him. And Oh by the way, why is Isaac Vorsa taking penalty kicks? All this goes to show the inept decision making of Akwesi Appiah.
My fellow Ghanaians I am warning you today, and I want you all to mark it on the wall, our sorrows are not yet over. Very soon we shall be out of the world cup and it will all be because we continue to have Akwesi Appiah as the Black Stars coach instead of Sillas TETTEH with Kuuku Dadzie helping him.
The midfield was the issue, Ghana has done well when the midfield has been strong and mobile, that is why in 2010 despite having “kids” we got through to the final defending and attacking as one. Tactical discipline with the team attacking and defending as A UNIT!
When you have players strolling back and Gyan looking for a pass, and then midfiedlers not supporting the attack then what do we expect.
We lost, we can deal with it. My concern is the tactical knowledge of the coach and the appropriate choice of players. Derek Boateng is not a quality mobile midfielder. There are others even Frimpong who would be more mobile and add more bite. with the attackers, simply if Gyan was on the level Appiah thinks he is he would have scored two goals. Not a matter of whether or not Ghana would have deserved to go through, simply whether or not Ghana takes it chances.
If we keep on playing with a lone striker then we need a mobile, tactically disciplined team that will play as a unit and attack and defend together, preferably with others given their chance as the main striker. If we play two strikers then again we need mobile midfielders and pacey wingers and two from Waris/Yiadom/J Ayew/Gyan/Clottey.
We have the players but I am honestly concerned about the tactical knowledge and player selection when it comes to the BS. Maybe that’s why a foreign coach is preferred by some, no influence with players or GFA, but still keep Appiah if he has to go or resign then Desailly, simply because he has the clout and respect to not take any bull from GFA or the players.
Correction. I meant influenced by players and GFA.
All the chances Gyan missed, Boakye Yiadom would have put away. He is the type of striker that hardly miss 6 yards form a cross. Akwasi Appiah should had seen this and brought on the lad instead of withdrawing Wakaso. I am ashamed of this coach I once encouraged us to support. I think we rather come home that play that useless 3&4. boys you have done your best.
It’s very simple.. SACK THE COACH.. when you have a super soccer country like Ghana and we struggle to beat teams in AFCON and the team gives sub-par performance because of poor tactics, formation and un-motivated players.. You SACK the coach… SIMPLE… SACK THE COACH
the coach made mistakes especially changes. akaminko should have come on for paintsil and rabiu should have been left alone bcos derick exposed our defence and gyan should have been taking off for yiadom. we should make to qualify for de world cup.
Its not the coach the ghana players lack skill they are all a bunch of over-rated players who think they are giants on the African continent,in over 32 years they have not won anything the moment they admit that they are minnows that is when ghana will pick up.
Disagree, it is the coach who has the responsibility. You’re telling me Ghana team of 2008 with Essien and Muntari, Appiah or 2010 WC team/AFCON team could not beat Burkina Faso, which in 2010 the team with kids beat 1-0.
The same Burkina Faso team that lost all 3 games in AFCON only 1 year ago, so is the Burkina team lucky or do they now have a coach that knows tactics and how to use their players… 1 YEAR and they are finalists from being also rans.
It is the tactical competence of the coach and player selection that is a problem. This doesn’t mean that he should be sacked now, as Africans we like to sack by heart BUT a change in mentality is needed by him, GFA and certain players who want to do new hairstyles than focus on football.
Obviously we all very disappointed and heartbroken right now but this is no time for hasty decisions. We can’t keep sacking the manager every 18 months because we need some continuity in management and we need to give the manager a chance to learn from our currnt failure. This is AA’S first tournament as manager and he will have picked up useful lessons in the last 3 weeks. He now has a better idea about who to trust. He will also have learnt a lot more about the best tactics to deploy both before and during matches and therefore desrves another chance to show in the WC next year what improvements he’s made to the team. For those who say that he’s been assistant manager since 2008, there’s a world of difference between being an assistant and being the main man on home the final crucial decisions rest. Our failure to win any AFCON titles since ’82 does not lie at AA’s door. He deserves more time.
Despite yesterday’s heartbreak there are still positves to pick from our participation this year:
1)the emergence of some promising new faces- Wakaso, Atsu, Dauda and Asante. This augurs well for the future.
2)We were unbeaten in open open play and even though our young midfield was sometimes overrun in our last 2 matches, we’ve proved we are a very difficult team to beat.
3)Even though, unlike a lot of Ghanaians, I’ve been a supporter of Baby Jet throughout the years, the time is now approaching when we have to start looking for his replacement. He has been our only international class striker fot the last 8 or so years and he’s carried that load valiantly but we are now beginning to be blessed with a lot of young, hungry strikers whos deserve a chance to stake their claim.
4)We also need to find ourselves one or two proper physically imposing defensive midfielders since Annan is now getting on and becoming more and more injury prone and the others aren’t good enough.
I’m sure we’ll all see, when things cool down , that we are not in such a bad situation and that a semifinal berth in AFCON is a good jumping off point to develop the next generation of the Black Stars.
listen guys, you all got it, the soccer GOd was on our side and we stunk, i have always said experience counts……….we needed didi, yes the boys played hard, but we need experience and leadership and it wasn’t there, i dont think gyan can lead this team….
I blame Gyan’s hairstylist, if you notice when he has not messed his hair with some bush man style blonde dye or shapes (see AFCON 2010 and WC 2010) he has had solid tournaments, when he starts messing with his hair then all goes wrong (lol). On a serious note, this is tournament football dyeing hair and doing hairstyles is not a focus for players maybe the discipline/focus in the team is lacking.
Can someone Tell me why Mayele substituted Wakaso for That Clottey? Knowing That we Were nearing penalty shoot-outs.Wakaso was the best penalty shooter who Could have inspired the boys by taking the first kick.