Rustenburg — A willingness to compete and a fighting spirit are the two major factors that have propelled Ghana to the World Cup quarter-finals, says coach Milovan Rajevac, praising his players after their win over the United States on Saturday.
The Serbian also spoke of the unity and confidence forged when the side reached the African Nations Cup final in Angola earlier this year.
Ghana certainly had to dig deep into their reservoir of resilience to overcome the gritty Americans, who themselves have made a habit of staging shows of fortitude at the finals.
The USA came from behind in all of their previous matches and threatened to do the same against the Black Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg.
Ghana were ahead after just five minutes, after an individual piece of power and guile from Kevin Prince Boateng, who stripped Ricardo Clark of the ball in midfield and sped away to strike a cracking shot in from the edge of the penalty area.
The Black Stars went on to control the first half.
But the Americans regrouped after the interval, strengthening their midfield to wrestle control of the game from the Ghanaians. They also closed off the wide positions where Dede Ayew and Samuel Inkoom had made great headway in the first half.
It was inevitable that the United States would equalize and it came just after the hour mark, albeit from a penalty. There seemed little doubt that Jonathan Mensah made a clumsy tackle on Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan stepped up to score.
The Americans might then have taken control but Ghana held out to fire the game into extra time.
It was then that the tie was decided on a single piece of magic from striker Asamoah Gyan, who ran onto a long ball from the midfield and thumped it on the full volley past American goalkeeper Tim Howard.
It proved a stunning win and a massive night for African football, which continues to have a team in the first World Cup on the continent despite the failure of its other representatives.
“I was very happy with our competitive spirit," Rajevac said after the match. "My players had the force and strength to continue and to go till the end and win.
"Both teams deserved to win tonight but only one could go to quarter-finals. During extra time we needed strength and we had this strength.”
