Ghana Dominates The Battle For Third Place, Clinched A 1-0 Victory Against Iraq

Istanbul—Ghana’s “Triple A” thrashed Iraq to clinch the 3rd spot of FIFA’s U-20. Adding more honor to the squad is Ebenezer Assifuah who won the coveted Golden Boot Award for scoring the most goals in the tournament. 

Iraq showed its dominance early in the match. The Young Lions of Messopotamia had several attempts in the 5th minute. However, none of their efforts were duly converted, much to the disappointment of its supporters.

Aware of Iraq’s failed attempts, the Black Satellites patiently took their time and on the 35th, Joseph Attamah broke Ghana’s half an hour silence when he scored a header off Moses Odjer’s corner.

Iraq pressed to get even and pull off an equalizer. However, just when the first half was about to end, Assifuah doubled Ghana’s lead.

The second half saw another scoring attack from the Young Lions. Ali Adnan rose up to the challenge and began to target the net. However, Richmond Nketiah, spotting Adnan’s motive, denied him at once. 

Unwilling to wave the white flag, Ammar Abdulhessein lead another scoring rally for Iraq. Yet, his aggressiveness simply landed the ball into the Ghanian side. Iraq was running out of time and true enough, by the 78th, Frank Acheampong scored Ghana’s final and winning shot in the tournament.

Ghana’s victory can be considered as one of FIFA’s Cinderella stories. After surviving a death-defying qualifier, it trampled Portugal and Chile, but succumbed to France. Nevertheless, although Sellas Tetteh and his men failed to defend its 2009 crown, still, the Black Satellites remained true to the promise of giving something to Mother Ghana that she can be proud of.



Source: World Cup Result
Photo Credit: Ghana Soccer Net

Read More

Match Preview: Ghana VS. Iraq (Battle For Third Place)

Date: 13 July 2013, Istanbul
The Verdict: Ghana Claims Another FIFA trophy

Seeing Ghana vie for the top spots in FIFA’s U-20 is rather expected. They are one of the tournament’s heavy favorites and if not for Florian Thauvin’s half-time goal, they could have marched their way into the finals. But going for the 3rd spot is not that bad either. The Black Satellites have had its taste of U-20’s championship title and this year, still, it was able to showcase its power and strength.

In their battle against Iraq, Sellas Tetteh and his men are more than prepared to face their opponents. They have been here before. Rallying for 3rd place is no different from defending a title and given what they have to endure prior to this match, the Black Satellites are in a much better position to secure victory.

Ghana struggled in the beginning of the tournament. It was the dark horse that trampled USA and left the so-called “Group Of Death.” It ended Portugal’s bid and caused a major upset to Chile.

The likes of Ebnezer Assifuah-Inkoom, Richmond Boakye and Michael Anaba can put up a relentless counter attack against Iraq’s Ali Adnan’s seemingly unstoppable goals.

Iraq is an aggressive attacker on the field and the Black Satellites know that. In their upcoming match, expect the squad to pressure Mesopotamia’s Young Lions heavily. Expect Tetteh and his men to build an impenetrable wall, force mismatches, and convert. Ghana is aware that the squad solely depends on Adnan’s scoring and for sure, Eric Antwi shall be on his toes to protect the goal or at best, keep a clean sheet.

As mentioned, since this is not the very first time that Ghana is boiled in hot waters, there is no doubt that it shall employ its experience to have the edge in the match. From a dark horse to a fairy tale spoiler, indeed, this is how Ghana evolves in the tournament. But being a spoiler or dark horse barely matters now. It is the trophy, pride and honor at stake and the heavy favorite shall not pass up on the opportunity to add another title into his belt.

Photo Credit: Zimbio

Read More

2013 FIFA U-20 Match Preview: Paraguay vs. Greece

So far, Paraguay and Greece are tied in Group D. Whether the same trend will apply to their scores in their June 28 match remains to be seen, though.  

La Albirroja had a shaky start in the first-round of the qualifying tournament. They had to down Bolivia 5-1, and pull off the same feat with hosts Argentina. Also, their balanced team and attacking prowess weren’t enough to nudge them ahead of a draw with Mali, not to mention scoring only a single point against Mexico. Paraguay has potential, but they have to work a bit more if they want to increase their dominance and presence in Turkey 2013.

Like Paraguay, Greece is considered one of the strongest teams in their continent. The Greeks have experience to their advantage, what with their appearance in four out of the last six UEFA U-19 European Championships, and their routing of Spain and Portugal 4-1 and 3-2, respectively. The hopes of Kostas Tsanas’ team are also resting on Giorgos Katidis, Dimitris Diamantakos, Kostas Stafylidis, Charis Mavrias, and Giannis Gianniotas.

Onlookers would be hard-pressed to see a sure victor in this match up. In any case, expect either a draw, or Greece to come out on top.

Read More

2013 FIFA U-20 Match Preview: Korea vs. Nigeria

The upcoming match between Korea and Nigeria is shaping up to be a tight one.

For one, both teams proved that they can give tournament favorite Portugal a run for its money. Korea surprised the European team with a come-from-behind draw, thanks to the efforts of Kim Hyun and Ryu Seungwoo. Nigeria didn’t do so bad against Bruma and Alberto Aladje’s team either, though the Flying Eagles weren’t fortunate enough to overcome their 2-3 loss to Portugal.

Nigeria, who has appeared in this championship nine times, also has Abdul Ajagun and Aminu Umar to rely on for their scoring needs. There’s also Kayode Olarenwaju who’ll serve as the perfect support for these two. As for Korea, they have a cohesive lineup in the shape of Hyun, Seungwoo, Sim Sangmin, and Han Sunggyu. The last two made the beautiful play which enabled Hyun to make a nice goal.

The Flying Eagles may have better firepower, but the Koreans have a deeper team. As long as Nigeria doesn’t keep missing goals the way it did against Cuba, they’ll do just fine against the Asian team. The June 27 match may end up in a draw, or a win in favor of Nigeria.

 Photo credit: kandschwar (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Read More

2013 FIFA U-20 Match Preview: Portugal vs. Cuba

Fresh from their defeat against Nigeria, Cuba isn’t likely to see its fortunes improve as it faces the tournament favorites on June 27—Portugal.

The team led by Edgar Borges already downed Nigeria 3-2 the other day. Unlike the Flying Eagles, Portugal will not allow scoring opportunities to slip by unnoticed. In particular, striker Alberto Aladje and winger Bruma can easily blaze through the defenses of untested opponents like Cuba.

Raul Gonzalez’s team will have to use up all their speed and strength if they are to stand a chance against Portugal. However, their status as debutants, combined with Portugal’s dominance on the field, means that it’s exceedingly unlikely that they’ll win this match. The Cubans haven’t made an appearance in the international scene since the 1938 senior FIFA World Cup, so they have a lot of catching up to do.

Edgar Borges and Co. need a high-scoring victory over Cuba if they are to secure their top spot in Group B. As for the Cubans, their consolation is that they’ve been presented with this great opportunity to make a name for themselves, and that they have plenty of chances to do better next time.

Prediction: Portugal will win by at least 3 points over Cuba, which will score only one or no goals. 

Photo credit: marktci from Toronto, Canada (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Read More

U-20 Match Preview: Ghana Vs. USA

Venue: Kayseri

The Verdict: Ghana Continues In U-20 Feat as USA exits, 2-1

A hard-fought victory is Ghana’s only option to advance in FIFA’s U-20. The Black Satellites is at the edge of exiting Turkey when it lost its opening match against France and just recently, Spain. After clinching the championship trophy last 2009, Ghana struggles for failing to snatch a point and being pushed at the bottom of the Group stage.

USA’s situation is no different from the Black Satellites. The squad was also thrashed twice in the tournament. Luckily, for the Stars and Stripes, they managed to force a draw against France. However, the team merely hangs by a thread. Beating Ghana is their best option to advance.

Both trapped in a “do or die” situation, the encounter in Kayseri tend to favor Ghana.

Black Satellites sported a stronger defence. Sellas Tetteh and his men brag four (4) GAs, whereas Tab Ramos takes the runner-up spot with five (5). The latter’s defence ruckus caused a costly penalty in France’s favor.

Meanwhile, despite its lost against Spain, Ghana’s game control was evident. This is most especially true during the equalizer rally in the second half. The mere fact that Spain was pushed to change its strategy to penetrate through the Ghanaian wall was a massive display of impressive defence.

Ghana’s scoring prowess shows more teeth than that of USA. Team USA’s Alonso Hernandez and Luis Gil have yet to find their chemistry in executing winning passes. Gil even failed to convert a penalty that could have shifted the momentum to their side. A cloud of doubt looms as to whether Gil and Hernandez can put up a challenge against the Black Satellite’s Clifford Aboagye and Yiadom Boakye.

Ghana is definitely a heavy favorite by both supporters and bookies. As for the betting side, Asian handicaps are already given to Team USA. 

Photo Credit: Zimbio

Read More