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

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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

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FIFA U-20 World Cup Semifinal: Uruguay triumphs over Iraq

Scoring the equalizer in the 87th minute to draw with Iraq 1-1, Uruguay won the penalty shootout 7-6 to reach the final of the U-20 World Cup.

Uruguay | Image source: fifa.com

Uruguay’s triumphant bagging of their semifinal fixture in the FIFA U-20 World Cup was prompted by Iraqi left-back Ali Adnan who unleashed a powerful free-kick to open the scoring. Uruguay substitutes Diego Bueno and Felipe Avenatti, however, were able to net an 88th-minute equalizer for their side, pushing the match beyond 90 minutes before eventually heading into penalties. Saif Salman’s missed penalty was the match’s deciding factor.

Hakeem Al Azzawi’s team started the match with flying colors, boasting of impressive interplays to destroy Uruguay’s defense. But La Celeste also managed to deliver good opening exchanges, with top scorer Nicolas Lopez getting in behind the defense.

Iraqi players may have produced impressive drills during the spot kicks, but their South American opponents were not aiming for a retreat. Uruguay is now headed for their second U-20 World Cup final this Sunday—16 years after they first advanced to that round!

This would be the first time that Iraq will miss the chance to compete in the final of a FIFA tournament.

Earlier, France routed Ghana 2-1 in the first semifinal.

Summary

Iraq Starting XI: Hameed; Adnan, Faez, Nadhim, Jabbar Arebat; Salman, Kamil, Tareq; Qasim, Abdulraheem, Farhan Shakor

Scorer: Adnan (35’)

Uruguay Starting XI: Amores; Silva, Varela, Gimenez, Rodriguez; Pais, Cristoforo, Gino; Arrascaeta, Laxalt, Lopez

Scorer: Bueno (88’)

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Australia Routs Iraq 1-0, Qualifies for 2014 FIFA World Cup

Unfortunately for Iraq, their opponent last Tuesday had a knack for making late, match-breaking goals.

Josh Kennedy from The Land Down Under kicked past goalkeeper Noor Sabri at the 83^rd minute mark to defeat Iraq 1-0 and qualify Australia for its third consecutive World Cup.

Kennedy was a last-minute substitute for veteran Tim Cahill. This move courtesy of Coach Holger Osieck paid off, as the 30-year-old striker teamed up with Mark Bresciano to make that winning goal.

It’s a surprising result, considering how the Australians fared against the Iraqis throughout the game. Mark Schwarzer struggled to contain the young and energetic lineup of Iraq; conversely, Brett Holman and Robbie Kruse had a hard time getting past their opponent’s defense. There was also the bad weather hampering the performance of both teams. Australia also fared badly in the Asian qualifying rounds, with only one out of their first six matches won.

Luckily, the psychological boost provided by the home court and the 80,000-strong fans, combined with the experience of the Socceroos, ensured that Australia will see Brazil this year.

“I’m proud of everybody,” said captain Lucas Neill. “It’s been a really tough campaign. We’ve stuck at it, showed mental strength. Sorry, it wasn’t pretty. But we’ve beaten what was in front of us and pushed ourselves on to a very exciting tournament.”

Australia now ranks second in their AFC group behind Japan. 

Photo credit: Camw (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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