Ghana was eliminated from the world cup group stage for the first time in her history as the team fell limply to a 1-2 loss to Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s 80th minute goal separated the two sides after Asamoah Gyan’s 3rd of the tournament cancelled John Boye’s own goal which had given Portugal the lead.
Both Ghana and Portugal needed big wins and a stroke of luck in the other game to stand any chance of making it to the second round from Group G.
And Germany delivered on their end of the bargain, beating the USA by a lone Muller goal; but the Black Stars found the going against a Christiano Ronaldo inspired Portugeuse side a little too hot to handle.
As I have always said, there is no GOD and even if there is a GOD, he does not give a hoot about 22 men running around chasing a round object on a pitch yet others believe otherwise… And to make things worse are those FAKE Prophets going about in Ghana claiming to be seeing … Read more
We know money does a lot of MAGIC but considering how much most of these players are paid, we did not expect them to act like a bunch of broke men having been given some cash—but reports say some did.
Ahead of Ghana vrs Portugal match tonight, Brazilian TV channel ‘Globo’ has published photos and videos of Ghana players being paid in Brasilia—and some of the players were seen kissing bundle of cash. Before that, the broadcast showed the monies being escorted by a police convey…
Prior to this, the players had threatened to boycott the Ghana vrs Portugal World Cup match should they not receive their payments before the match—and had gone ahead to even boycott training sessions as an indicator of how serious and upset they are…
First of all, it is highly probably that God exists. On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 meaning God exists and 7 meaning God does not exist—all the existing evidence point to 6, it is highly probable there is God.
Secondly, even if it so happens that God exists or you believe HE does exist, it will be absurd, irrational and utterly displaced of priority to think that God will be interested in 22 men chasing a round object around a pitch in the face of pressing needs such as, countless children dying in Iraq, in Somalia, in Syria and other parts of the world.
All the same, a Ghanaian white gown wearing prophet has come to say, Ghana will beat Portugal tonight—and if it happens, people will say the prophet was right and God exists. However, if it does not happen, same people will say, the prophet is false—this does not mean God does not exist. You can never win with believers on any indicator (after all, it is about faith—believing without evidence)…
Anyway, watch the video below and since the prophesy is favourable to what I want to happen, I will also shout AMEN! Pure nonsense though…
For 90 minutes on Sunday night, all Ghanaians were fans of the Portuguese national side. They were playing the USA, and for Ghana to have any chance of making it out of group G, Portugal had to win.
They couldn’t quite manage it, but the 95th minute equaliser and the 2-2 draw gave Ghana a small lifeline, and on Thursday the two will lock horns to determine who qualifies, hopefully with a little help from Germany.
‘A Selecao’, or ‘The Selection’ is how the Portuguese national team is known. Currently ranked no.4 in the world, they were supposed to be one of the heavyweights in this year’s world cup. After the group stage draw as well, they alongside Germany were the obvious picks from the group; yet after two games all they have to show is a measly point and even victory against Ghana on Thursday might not be enough to send them through.
Portugal qualified for the world cup via the European play-offs, beating Sweden 4-2 on aggregate in a spectacular 2-legged tie that saw Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic score all six goals between them.
The second leg game, which Portugal won 3-2, was a tour de force from Ronaldo. In that 90 minutes in Lisbon Ronaldo single-handedly annihilated the Swedish side, giving the world a taste of what they should expect come this mundial.
It emerged yesterday that, since the World Cup started, the Black Stars have not been paid any monies (appearance fees and bonuses) and the players were losing their patience, boycotting yesterday’s training session—with threats to boycott the Portugal vrs Ghana match. Even though these fees were to be paid by the large sum FIFA gave to Ghana for qualifying for the World Cup, somehow, the players have not been paid after two weeks into the tournament.
According to reports, when the President of Ghana spoke to players and promised to ensure that they get their payments as soon as possible, the players insisted they wanted cash as they are tired of the many stories of electronic transfers they’ve been told in the last few days.
The Black Stars of Ghana could become the first African nation to reach the world cup knockout stage three times in a row if they defeat Portugal on Thursday and other results go their way.
Ghana reached the knockout stage in Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, and should they qualify this time round, would have gotten out of their group for the third consecutive time; a feat never achieved by any African nation at the world cup.
Africa’s participation on the world stage has never been uplifting as one would hope. Since the continent was first represented on the world stage by Egypt in 1934, it has been difficult to make a lasting impression on the larger stage. Until 1986, no African side had ever made it out of the group stages, whilst Italia 90’ saw Cameroon’s sublime run to the quarter-finals, a move emulated by Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.
Despite all this, the one thing that had plagued the continent was consistency, as no one team could make their mark and return to subsequent mundials and stay at that top level. After reaching the quarter-finals in 1990, Cameroon crashed out of the group stages in 1994. The sad truth is whilst there has been as African side in the second round of every world cup since 1986, its only on two occasions that the same side has reached that stage consecutively; Nigeria in USA 94’ and France 98’, and Ghana in 2006 and 2010.
This should be a testament to the great work the Black Stars have been doing since first qualifying for the world cup in 2006. In both 2006 and 2010, Ghana was the only African side to reach the second round, and everyone knows what happened in 2010 and how close the Stars’ came to becoming the first African side to ever make the world cup semi finals.
The Black Stars came within 60 seconds of elimination as Portugal needed a 5th minute stoppage time equaliser to draw 2-2 with the USA.
In the 4th game of Group G, Ghana needed Portugal to beat the USA but it turned out nearly the opposite and now Group G’s last round of games would contain several permutations on who is likely to qualify.
Portugal took the lead as early as the fifth minute when Nani pounced on a defensive error to slot home past Tim Howard.
Portugal remained on the ascendancy but failed to add to their tally until the USA took over the game in the second half.
Goals from Jermain Jones and skipper Clint Dempsey meant that all of a sudden everything was going off-script for the Black Stars.
It took until the 95th minute, when a curling Cristiano Ronaldo cross was met by the powerful head of Silvestre Varela to keep the stakes as high as it gets heading into the final Group G games on Thursday.
Now a win would have suited the Black Stars much more but minus that, the draw is not a bad result and it requires certain swings in the last game for Ghana to make the Round of 16.
The FIFA rules stipulate that the criteria for qualification go hierarchically, Points, Goals Difference, Goals scored, then head-to-head.
As it stands, Germany has 4pts and a +4 goal difference. USA has 4pts and +1, Ghana 1pt and -1, Portugal 1pt and -4.
For Ghana to qualify, we need to beat Portugal, Germany beats the USA, and the goal differential should swing in our favour. Between the two games there should be a three goal swing; so Ghana win by two goals and USA lose by one, or we win by one goal and they lose by two.
A draw between Germany and USA means Ghana and Portugal will be both out. One thing we should note is the Germans have history with this kind of situation, as they beat Austria 1-0 in 1982 to eliminate Algeria with both sides barely playing after the goal in the 10th minute. The US coach is also German legend-Jurgen Klinsmann.
