FIFA 2010 World Cup Quarter Final Preview – Ghana vs Uruguay
This year’s FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, saw an abysmal performance by the African teams. The home crowd advantage did not serve well to the African Nations, as they failed to go past the group stages of the tournament. Only Ghana was an exception, who struggled past their group stage against the likes of Serbia, Australia and Germany.
Although, it seemed that they would not be able to get past the tough test against USA, in the Round of 16. The Ghanaians fought a tough battle and found victory in the extra time. Asamoah Gyan fired home the winning goal, and gave his team a chance to appear in the Quarter Finals.
Uruguay had a better run than Ghana, in the World Cup. The Uruguayans topped their group against the likes of France, Mexico and the host nation, South Africa. They faced the South Koreans in their second round match, and won comfortably. Luis Suarez scored twice to win the match for his team.
Now, both teams face each other in the tough battle for a place in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup. Ghana, in order to win the match and keep the African hopes alive, will have to work very hard for the eventual victory. The Ghanaians have had problems at the back, but they played well in this tournament. The biggest issue for Ghana was the missing of their world-class player, Michael Essien, due to injury. As the injury of Essien occurred before the World Cup, hence, it did not affect the mental preparation of the team. The Ghanaians have adjusted accordingly, as they have shown a lot of resilience at the back.
The Uruguayans must keep one thing in mind that the goals would not be easy to come, in this match-up. In fact they will have to work very hard for the goals, as the Ghanaians will not let them an easy way through. The Uruguayans have not faced a very stiff opposition in this tournament so far; rather they had the easiest way into the knock-out rounds. Uruguayans were only kept quite by the French, but since then they have steered their way to victory. Against the South Koreans, Uruguay had their way while going forward, as the Koreans did not pose a hard challenge. This battle will be tough, and it could get rough for Uruguay in the match. The toughest battle will be between the Uruguayan forwards, Suarez and Diego Forlan, and the Ghanaian defenders, Andre Ayew and Kevin Prince Boateng.
Ghana, however, has showed less promise while going forward. They had a series of International matches, in which they did not score more than one goal. However, they did get two goals against USA, but it took an extra half an hour to achieve that victory. Also, Ghana is missing the presence of a man, with real creativity, in the midfield. Therefore, one can hardly see any good attacking move by the team. Two of their goals came from penalty spots, and the rest from good individual efforts. The team really lacks some quality in their forward line.
Uruguay, however, has shown some good defending throughout the tournament. They kept many teams shut, and rarely showed a lack of concentration. Also, their defenders might prove too strong for Ghana, as they can get a clean-sheet. Despite an injury to Diego Godin, the Uruguayan centre-back, the team still looks good enough for an attack like Ghana. However, the real strength of Uruguay is their attack and sublime moves between Suarez and Forlan. This is the real pressure that they can put up on Ghana, thus, keeping the possession for most of the time.
This fixture will definitely be a battle between one attacking team and the other team with the defensive style. The Ghanaians would do their best to keep the Uruguayans from scoring; consequently, there will not be a lot of goals in the match. The match might end up with the difference of one goal, or it might go all the way to the penalty-shootout. In any case Uruguay will be favourites to win the tie, and find a place in the semi-finals.
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