By Ben Somerford
February 2nd 2010 @ 1:00am
Related coverage
Five lessons about WC opponent Ghana from ACN
Australia's Harry Kewell takes control of the ball from Ghana's Eric Addo as Kewell's team mate Joel Griffiths offers support during their friendly match at the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Friday, May 23, 2008. AAP Image/Dean Lewins
I was up in the early hours of Monday morning eagerly anticipating a big football match, but it wasn’t Arsenal-Manchester United but instead the African Cup of Nations final in Angola where Australia’s World Cup group opponents Ghana fell short 1-0 against Egypt.
Despite the Black Stars’ final loss, they were arguably the footballing story of the continental tournament, with manager Milovan Rajevac guiding a youthful squad (yes, there was one sucking a pacifier on the bench in the final!) all the way to the decider despite being robbed of several key players like Michael Essien due to injury.
And while the tournament presented many interesting subplots, it also offered Australian fans an insight into the Ghanaians ahead of our crucial World Cup group stage clash in Rustenburg on June 19.
In fact, Australia assistant Graham Arnold was scheduled to witness Ghana first-hand over in Angola, before that trip was cancelled following the terrorist attack on the Togo squad.
Nevertheless, I kept a keen eye on the African Cup of Nations (thanks largely to Setanta) and these were the five key revelations from my observations of the Black Stars in Angola.
1. Milovan Rajevac Knows What He’s Doing
The 56-year-old Serb may only have held a few club coaching positions back in his homeland, most famously but briefly at Red Star Belgrade during 2004, but his quality exceeds his record.
Rajevac isn’t afraid of backing himself, a point highlighted by his decision to leave gun midfielder Sulley Muntari out of the 23-man squad altogether after the Inter man failed to apologise, or at least pay a fine, having missed a friendly in November. That decision took a lot of guts considering Ghana’s injury woes.
And the Serbian is in many ways like our own Pim Verbeek, as he doesn’t hide his obsession with results. He fascinatingly told reporters before the tournament, “We came here (Angola) to compete and not to play entertaining football. The most important thing is the result and not how much possession we had during a particular game.”
Indeed, Ghana’s hat-trick of 1-0 wins which won them their place in the final were dubbed by some as ‘ugly’. But Rajevac has an emphasis on defence, being organised and making as few mistakes as possible.
Rajevac stated, “Every team must know how to defend because it is an essential element of modern football.” And Ghana’s success in Angola shows they know exactly how to defend (even without injured vice-captain John Mensah) so Verbeek will need a few tricks for Australia’s somewhat blunt, and predictable, attack in South Africa.
2. Ghana Are Hard To Break Down
Continuing on the point of Rajevac’s style, the Black Stars had a real spirit about them in Angola, whilst enjoying the benefits of their manager’s organisation.
Both these points can be largely credited for why Ghana went almost six hours without conceding a goal in Angola (until Mohamed Gedo’s late winner for Egypt).
Indeed, after losing their opening game 3-1 to Ivory Coast, Ghana hit back with three consecutive 1-0 wins over Burkina Faso, Angola and Nigeria respectively. And curiously, all three wins occurred in the same manner, with the Black Stars grabbing a first-half goal, before sitting on their lead in the second-half. Sure, they rode their luck, but they made life hard for their opponents.
3. But The Black Stars Can Be A Bit Blunt
Despite their defensive successes, there was to be no first-half goal against Egypt for Ghana while against Ivory Coast the Black Stars couldn’t respond after going behind despite enjoying a one-man advantage. It appears they do find goals hard to come by and too often in Angola frontman Asamoah Gyan (who did actually have a fine tournament) was left isolated.
Ghana really don’t possess that world-class forward and that is potentially their weakness. NAC Breda’s Matthew Amoah and Gyan are the regulars, but the dark horse could be 20-year-old Dominic Adiyiah who was last year’s Under-20 World Cup Player of the Tournament (which Ghana won) and recently signed with AC Milan. He didn’t really get going in Angola though.
4. There’s More To Ghana Than Essien
Chelsea superstar Michael Essien, along with John Mensah, John Pantsil, Stephen Appiah, Laryea Kingston, Anthony Annan and Muntari may all have been out of action in Angola but Ghana showed they’ve got ample squad depth.
Udinese midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah was one of the stars in Angola with his vicious left boot a likely threat at the World Cup. And it was Asamoah’s precise long-ball which set up the pacy Gyan for the goal against Angola and that moment will send shivers down the necks of Australia’s ageing backline who could be exposed by such swift movement.
Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingston was another surprise performer in Angola despite his distinct lack of gametime at Wigan, where he’s ironically being kept out of the team currently by a Serb.
5. They Can Improve
This is the scary part, but an obvious one considering some of the absentees from their Nations Cup squad. Essien will inevitably improve their side in South Africa and Rajevac believes his side’s experiences in Angola will help his youngsters for the future.
He said after the final loss, “Experience gained here will be crucial to our preparations at the World Cup. We now have enough time to prepare (for the World Cup).” But he also added, “The young players are the future, but they cannot play on their own. Egypt beat us today because they have plenty of experience.”
So for me, there’s no doubt Ghana will be more than a handful in South Africa, but not going behind could be the key. The question is how will we break them down and get ourselves ahead? Three points against Ghana will be crucial.
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(16)
SAM said | February 2nd 2010 @ 4:30am | Report comment
Very insightful.The coach took a big gamble and it nearly paid off. But the Africa Cup and the World Cup are two different ball games. Ghana cannot play defensive and go far at the World Cup. The coach Milo is too defensive-minded and the Egyptian scorer punished Ghana five minutes to time. Traditionally, Ghana plays attacking soccer and not this dour defensive game. The coach must balance the game plan of Ghana. You are right, Ghana has a deep depth of talents to build a strong squad.Now, all players will work hard to fight for a position in the team. Ghana’s attack is not very strong and the coach must try again to recruit Italian/Ghanaian Mario Balotelli.
youqar said | February 2nd 2010 @ 6:38am | Report comment
Australia will walk all over them. If Australia doesn’t make the next round Ill eat my foot. Far too much hype about our pool.
whiskeymac said | February 2nd 2010 @ 8:44am | Report comment
Nice article Ben.
they have some great players with Muntari, Essien etc and from the sounds of it a wily coach. Will be an interestin’ game but i would probably be washing my feet before hand if i was you youqar, this is shaing up as a significantly harder proposition for our own aging/injured and “with less depth” ridden squad. One plus is Shwarzer – with him in goal there’s always a chance he’ll keep us in it. and if Cahill maintains his form and health playing there’s a chance we might nick a result.
AndyRoo said | February 2nd 2010 @ 9:08am | Report comment
Obviously hasn’t heard of “the mozz”….unless he is a Ghana fan perhaps
Froar said | February 2nd 2010 @ 11:09am | Report comment
We can surely beat two countries most Australians couldn’t point to on a map. Germany are slow starters so I think we will top the pool.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 2nd 2010 @ 11:19am | Report comment
Germany are slow starters?
They haven’t failed to get out of their group since the 1930s!!
It wasn’t long ago that they hammered the Saudis 8-0 in their very first game (and they’ve hammered other sides in the past in their opening game).
AndyRoo said | February 2nd 2010 @ 12:12pm | Report comment
Also the fact that 2nd is better than 1st because that way we get to knock out the Poms
ItsCalledFootball said | February 2nd 2010 @ 9:26am | Report comment
The bar has been lifted higher and we must improve to compete.
The WC is an enormous stimulus to lifting the standard of Australian football.
Playing in a World Cup is much better than playing friendlies against the Solomon Islands and waiting four years to try and beat Uruguay next time.
whiskeymac said | February 2nd 2010 @ 9:39am | Report comment
without a doubt. to be there is brilliiant, to compete is even better.
Froar said | February 2nd 2010 @ 7:10pm | Report comment
We shouldn’t just be thinking it is good to qualify. Lets face it, our path to the WC was dead easy. Furthermore, even NZ qualified. We need to start progressing through the competition. Being there isn’t good enough in my mind.
David V. said | February 2nd 2010 @ 11:00am | Report comment
Egypt win 3 in a row and still can’t make a World Cup through bad luck- it shows the real strength of Africa, which I feel is underrepresented at World Cups whereas other regions (CONCACAF and Asia) are overrepresented for their paucity.
Realfootball said | February 2nd 2010 @ 11:15am | Report comment
Rukavytsia had better keep on scoring goals. We are going to need something extra in South Africa to get out of that group. I don’t think it has been overhyped at all.
Australian Football said | February 2nd 2010 @ 11:48am | Report comment
Ghana play in the final of the African Championships and a highlights package will be shown on TWG. I shall be tuned in, to have a sneak pre-view of their strengths.
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AF
Macs.football said | February 2nd 2010 @ 2:30pm | Report comment
An extra note on Ben’s last sentence in point 4 about Ghana GK Richard Kingston. The Serb he mentions is actually Serbia’s first choice Gk Vladimir Stojkovic who has moved to Wigan on a 6 month loan from Sporting Lisbon to be a backup to 1st choice GK Chris Kirlkand. So unless Kirkland gets injured or has a major loss of form, with 5 months until the World Cup it looks like neither Ghana’s or Serbia’s 1st choice goalkeepers will be seeing any game time. Hopefully giving an advantage to Socceroos when we face either side.
Also if your interested hit the link to see a possible Serbia World Cup squad http://macaussiefootball.blogspot.com/2009/12/countdown-to-south-africa-spotlight-on_09.html
whiskeymac said | February 2nd 2010 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
alternatively there’s (Andy Harper’s view)… http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,26661290-5019291,00.html
gazz said | February 6th 2010 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
yep they will be difficult to break down and the worry is I fancy theyll be better in attack with their star players back. but as Ben says, we need to win this one…..geez tough group!!