FIFA World Cup 2010 – Quarterfinal Preview: Uruguay vs. Ghana
The quarterfinal for South Africa 2010 between Uruguay and Ghana is an unexpected encounter to say the least. With both teams facing huge hurdles before the quarterfinals, it was least expected that these two teams would qualify for the last 8. Eventually, one of them is going to be part of the semi-finals and is going to play against either Netherlands or Brazil in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Uruguay was paired up in a very tough group. It consisted of the host nation ‘Bafana Bafana’, Mexico and the European giants France. The Uruguayan team faced the French in their first challenge of the World Cup which ended in a goalless draw with both sides coming up with a few opportunities and not converting them at all. Uruguay’s second match was against the host nation where they proved themselves as a really good team. They defeated South Africa with a thumping 3-0 drubbing with two goals coming from the foot of Athletico Madrid star Diego Forlan. The first strike was an amazing shot from outside the box and the second goal was converted through a penalty kick. Their last match of the group stages was against Mexico which would decide whether who is going to top the group and who is going to avoid the all-winning Diego Maradona’s side. The Uruguayans, luckily, were the better side at the end of 90 minutes who won the match 1-0. As a result, they avoided the Argentinean side that had defeated the Mexicans 3-1 and knocked them out of the World Cup. Later, the Uruguayans had to face South Korea who defeated them by a one goal margin. Luis Suarez was the star of the match as he scored two goals to finish it off for the Koreans, one of which was a fabulous strike, right from the inside of the box. Luis Suarez, right now, is in the fight for winning the golden boot as he has scored 3 goals in only 4 matches along with Higuain who has scored 4 goals in 3 matches. Spain’s David Villa, who has scored 4 goals in 4 matches, is leading the fight for the golden boot award. By winning the match against the Korean side, Uruguay qualified for the quarterfinals where they meet Ghana in a mouth-watering encounter today.
Ghana has been impressive as well. With a strong group in the initial stages, Ghana managed to be the runner-up team in their group. They had to beat the very strong German side along with Australia and Serbia in their group. Their first opponents were the Serbians who were to give the ‘black stars’ a good competition because of their defence. The Serbians with their very strong defending were able to contain the black stars, although the Africans were dominating the game. The first half went goalless and the second half proved that the match would end in a draw. However, just before the full-time whistle, Kuzmanovic handled the ball in the penalty area and gave Ghana a penalty kick along with a chance to win the match. The penalty was taken by Gyan who converted it with ease and Ghana won the match with a score of 1-0. Ghana’s second match was against the Australian side who had suffered a “sad” loss against the Germans as they thrashed the socceroos with a thumping score of 4-0. The Australians had to prove something and they did so as they drew the match against the Africans. Ghana took the lead in the 11th minute. However, the black stars gave away a penalty during the 25th minute because of which they had to share a point each. Ghana then faced their last opponents Germany. Germany won the match by a score of 1-0 and both the teams qualified for the pre-quarter finals. Ghana went on to face the Americans and it was the second time in a row that Ghana was up against USA in a quarterfinal situation in a World Cup. History repeated itself as Ghana defeated USA to step into the quarterfinals after a breath taking performance by both the teams. The match went into extra-time and Gyan scored the decisive goal.
Today, Ghana meets Uruguay to decide which team is going to qualify for the semi-finals. If the South Americans qualify for the next round, they are going to make history as they haven’t reached the semi-finals of the World Cup since 1970. Ghana on the other hand haven’t even tasted the pressure of the semi-finals but they look good enough to make it this time round. Ghana is looking forwards to take advantage of their home soil, as the World Cup is taking place in Africa and they are the only African nation that is left in it. On the other hand, all the South American teams have been more than just “great” throughout the tournament. More importantly, none of South American teams were knocked out by an African, Asian or a European team but by fellow South American teams themselves.
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