Ghana 1-1 Australia: No Winner despite Harry Kewell’s Red Card
Today’s exciting game between the Black Stars and the Socceroos ended disappointingly as neither of the teams was able to score a second goal and take the lead. Even though Australia was held back with just 10 men, Ghana was still not able to take the lead. Hopes for both the teasm lie in the balance at the moment.
The game begun in a very positive manner by the socceroos when they took the lead through Brett Holman, but the match soon turned quite wrong for them as Harry Kewell was dismissed for a handball on the line. Asamoah Gyan converted the resultant penalty, but the Black Stars failed to really assert themselves on the concluding hour.
After being beaten to a pulp by Germany in their first game Australia made a very solid start to the game, steadying themselves after their rocky start to the tournament. Kewell was denied an early penalty when he seemed to have been tripped by Lee Addy, but genuine goal scoring chances were non-existent.
Next we witnessed a positive run from Carl Valeri on ten minutes, after a foul from Antony Annan, which presented the Socceroos with a free kick in a very promising position. Then Richard Kingson, who had earlier collided with Addy, got his body behind Mark Bresciano’s drive and fumbled it loose into the middle of the goal. It was a great moment for Australia as they had finally scored their first goal in the World Cup. Ghana was left shocked and began taking solid steps so as to equalize the score, but they didn’t look especially menacing immediately after falling behind. Andre Ayew and Gyan both had shots deflected past by Lucas Neill blocks.
The game then began to take a drastic turn as Ghana found a way back into the match 14 minutes later. The magnificent Anthony Annan took a shot that would have ripped the goal net open but the ball struck Harry Kewell on his right arm. The Australian forward denied it was a deliberate attempt to desperately stop the goal, but the Italian referee, Roberto Rosetti, disagreed and awarding a penalty after showing Kewell the red card. Then it was up to Asamoah Gyan, who had also scored from the penalty spot against Serbia, he confidently took the shot and sent the ball home, giving Ghana the break the needed.
It was surprising that although the Black Stars had a one man advantage and considering how lively and inventive they were in their 1-0 victory over Serbia, this match showed an odd unreceptive side of them that brought the whole game down a few notches. Instead it was Australia, who defended in numbers and occasionally launched swift counter attacks that looked more likely to score a winner.
As the second half progressed Ghana became more adventurous still, but their attacks tended to break down outside the area and wouldn’t even get near the immediate goal area. Frustrated, the African side resorted to ever more ambitious long range efforts although it wasn’t until stoppage time before a shot from Quincy Owusu-Abeiye seriously tested Mark Schwarzer in the Australian goal.
Ghana’s coach, Milovan Rajevac, brought on Inter Milan’s Suller Muntari for the final 20 minutes of the game, but the African Nations finalists still lacked creativity during the game. The Black Stars have been Africa’s most impressive side so far in this tournament, but they will need their best performance yet next Wednesday if they are to ensure a place in the second round. The 1-1 draw in Rustenberg now leaves the Black Stars in need of a draw or a win when they play Germany at Johannesburg’s Soccer City on Wednesday. For Australia the task is even more difficult and not entirely in their own hands. They will of course be very comforted by the fact that their performance today was a great step forward if compared to their horrible loss against Germany when they first stepped onto the World Cup platform.
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