Serbia vs Ghana, First Half: The Black Stars Lift The Tempo High
From A to Z, the game was hot. The Black Stars of Ghana understood Serbia’s potential in defense and didn’t waste time to impose their explosive performance through the likes of youngsters Ayew and Prince Boateng. Kwadwo Asamoah was powerful in the center of the pitch and thus provoked the Serbians to foul him a lot. Germany-born Kevin-Prince Boateng came close to netting a goal inside the first 15 minutes.
On 18 minutes, Zigic picked up a yellow card for crashing Dede Ayew on the ground. The resulting free-kick got wasted by Captain John Mensah’s header. A few moments later, Boateng and Gyan almost combined for a perfect finish but Serbia’s keeper saved his side from suffering any danger. In response midway through the first half, Pantelic tried to deceive Ghana’s goalkeeper Richard Kingson but a poor control of the ball during a free-kick saw the chance go missing.
Dejan Stankovic made a very powerful strike at the 39th minute which almost caught the Black Stars’ shot stopper. But the Jabulani ball didn’t trick Kingson like it tricked England’s Robert Green on Saturday night. At half time, the score line was 0-0 as Serbia’s defense kept doing what they do best.
Serbia vs Ghana, Second Half: Victory For Africa
The tempo of the game seemed to have gone down in the first 8 minutes of the second period. But it came up again when Dede Ayew was inches away from breaking the deadlock for Ghana. His 53rd minute header flashed wide. Two minutes later, the energetic midfielder spectacularly won the ball but his volley agonizingly flew wide.
If Ghana were looking for a goal, so did the Serbians. On 58 minutes, the Black Stars were centimeters away from going 1-0 down. But at the other end of the pitch, Asamoah Gyan also attempted to reaffirm Ghana’s dominance in the game. The number 3 striker knocked the ball but it bounced off the pitch and hit the post before going out for a goal kick. Prince Tagoe, who was dynamic from the start of the match, was recklessly challenged at the 63rd minute, but the referee whistled for a free-kick against Ghana.
The game kept its entertaining flow, but one of the most crucial moment of it occurred at the 73rd minute. Serbia’s Lukovic saw red following two yellow card offenses. The advantage was then there for the Black Stars to go on and win the match. The only problem for the CAN 2010 runners-up was that Serbia applied more pressure on the counter attack in attempt to brush away the disappointment of suffering from their numerical disadvantage.
Krasic tested Ghana’s keeper Richard Kingson on 78 minutes with a strong shot from inside the penalty box but the keeper was alert enough to keep his lines clean. He punched the ball out for a corner in favor of Serbia. However, Manchester United’s rock in defense Nemanja Vidic couldn’t do better than just directing the ball over the bar.
With 9 minutes of normal time remaining, Ghana were again under danger of losing the game as Ivanovic fooled the Black Stars defense on the counter attack. The only thing that lacked for Ivanovic was the finish. His superb volley went just over the goal post.
Many would have thought that the match will end 0-0 perhaps. After all, Serbia’s defense was so tight that one would forget the fact that the European nation were playing with a man less. But one mistake decided the game.
Substitute Kuzmanovic got caught as he cleared the ball in the penalty box with his arm. The referee didn’t hesitate to point to the spot for a penalty and flash the yellow card to the Serbian.
The 84th minute was the moment of truth. Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan, who scored the Black Stars’ first goal in the 2006 World Cup (which was also the earliest goal of that tournament), was the man responsible to make things happen. Asamoah Gyan stepped up and fired the ball at the back of the net to strike victory for Africa. 1-0; the Serbians were disgusted.
Ghana held on until the end, and Gyan again even had the opportunity to clinch a double. The striker made an excellent shot but his ball smashed against the post and the score line remained 1-0. Still, his penalty goal was enough to offer the Black Stars all three points and therefore create history in this 2010 World Cup.
Ghana top Group D ahead of Australia’s game against Germany. Serbia are down with no point and a (-1) goal difference.
