ROUND OF 16
▲Ghana 2 - 1 United States
Africa are still at the World Cup party after Ghana realized the hopes of a success-starved continent by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time on Saturday.
The poor showing of African nations had cast a pall over South Africa 2010, with the hosts and four others exiting at the group stage of the continent’s first World Cup.
“We’ve made everybody proud — not Ghana alone, but all of Africa,” said striker Asamoah Gyan, whose extra-time goal clinched a 2-1 victory over the US in the round-of-16.
The win, which set up a quarter-final against Uruguay, took Ghana one stage further than at their World Cup debut four years ago, when they were also the last African contender.
“Me and my colleagues were very disappointed there were no African teams with us,” forward Dede Ayew said. “Now we are lucky to be here, we must fight, not just for us, but for the other teams that are not here. We feel we have a continent behind us and the whole of Africa behind us, and that’s given us a lot of energy to fight more.”
What energy Ghana had.
Kevin-Prince Boateng tore through the US defense to score after just five minutes at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, while a compact defense thwarted the US resistance.
While Landon Donovan equalized with a second-half penalty, the Black Stars shone as the US wilted and Asamoah Gyan volleyed in the winner early in extra-time.
“In the end, we needed strength and we had that strength,” coach Milan Rajevac said. “Ghana are now among the best eight teams in the world.”
The players see no reason they can’t be the best.
First, they must beat Uruguay.
“After Uruguay, we stand a chance of being in the final,” defender John Pantsil said. “Having Africa’s support adds a bit of pressure on us, but we have to put the pressure outside and go outside, and play our normal football.”
The signs that Ghana could progress far at the World Cup have been there for some time.
Three of the starters in Rustenburg on Saturday also featured last year as Ghana became the first African team to win the under-20 World Cup, prevailing over runaway favorites Brazil in a penalty shootout and Ghana were only denied a fifth African title earlier this year by Egypt in a tight final in Angola.
“It was important the youth team taking the cup and the whole of Ghana was happy, and since Angola when we were in the final, we have shown we are progressing and there is more to come,” Pantsil said.
Back home, they are ready for more celebrations. On Saturday night, dancing fans swarmed onto the streets, while car horns were honked across the nation.
Abena Serwa, a 34-year-old street vendor, said Ghana had beaten “one of the world’s big powers.”
“The whole continent was looking up to them to show that Africa was not in the tournament just to keep the numbers,” said Mohammed Abu, a 17-year-old celebrating in the streets of Ghana’s capital, Accra.
The elation was witnessed across the continent.
Mozambicans celebrated in the streets of their capital and South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) issued a statement calling the Black Stars “our pride.”
“We are very confident that having gone this far, you are indeed heading for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals on our soil,” the ANC said.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS