World Cup Group D preview: Ghana v Australia
If they hadn’t had to cleared the pitch at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria to stage South Africa’s match with Uruguay on Wednesday night, then the chances are that John Pantsil would still be circling it while clutching his Ghana flag.
The Fulham defender was so delighted with his country’s 1-0 win over Serbia on Sunday afternoon – a result which remains an African nation’s solitary win at this tournament – that he chose to celebrate it by flying his nation’s flag with pride as he did a lap of honour.
He was right to celebrate it too.
Serbia had been heavy favourites going into the match, but Asamoah Gyan’s late penalty gave the Ghanaians a deserved victory, and has given them a great chance to qualify heading into this meeting with the Australians in Rustenburg.
“The tournament couldn't have started much better for us, winning our opening game against a tough Serbian team,” says Ghana captain John Mensah.
“But now we're looking to go on and we're totally focused on Australia. I didn't watch all of the Australia v Germany game but I watched little bits. Germany created a lot of chances but I don't think that's the way Australia are going to be against us. I think it's going to be different.”
The Aussies certainly hope it is.
They were never allowed to get into any form of a stride against Germany, and were blown away by the passing, movement and pace of Joachim Löw’s side.
Tim Cahill’s harsh sending off – which will see him miss this game – didn’t help of course, but Australia were already a well-beaten side by then.
Punchdrunk, played off the pitch and left praying for the final whistle, Pim Verbeek’s side were left dizzy by the Germans, and now the task is to get back up off the canvas. That, against these hard-working Ghanaians, will be easier said than done.
“They are a strong team, unpredictable and fast all over the park,” says left-back Scott Chipperfield.
“Of course, they're confident after their 1-0 win against Serbia. Maybe that can play into our hands. It's not an easy game and it's tough when you have bad days, but how you bounce back determines how good you are. We're a good team.”
That remains to be seen, but good team or not, they need to win this one.
They are likely to have Harry Kewell available again after he missed the Germany clash through injury – “I’m as fit as I can be” he says, not entirely convincingly – but Vince Grella has been ruled out with a knee injury.
Ghana had to delay training for a couple of hours this week due to a frozen pitch, not a common occurrence during a World Cup, but they’ll be planning to heat up the action on the pitch with a second win of the group, a victory that could secure qualification.
Pantsil will be hoping to fly the flag again.
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