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.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS