Ghanacaptain Asamoah Gyan struck late in injury time to secure victory for the BlackStars, in order to keep their hopes of qualification for the African Cupof Nations quarter- finals alive. The 29-year-oldtalismanic Ghanaian striker latched onto a long ball and fired home anunstoppable angled drive. This was a dramatic end to the game which meant that AvramGrant’s men remained in the competition.
The gamehad very few openings and shots in the first half; the DesertFoxes had one clear chance 20 minutes into the match, when Tottenham’s NabilBentaleb, 20, side footed wide from around the penalty spot.
After that chancethe game looked as though it was heading for a stalemate.
It was aphysical match, with many bad-blooded tackles flying about and there could havebeen more red cards as Bentaleb, Belfodil and Badu all escaped punishment afterthey were involved in a bust-up.
The qualityof play did not improve after the break, but Ghana showed more intent andplayed with a higher intensity further up the pitch.
Gyan played brilliantly in the second half, with few missed chances before he snatched apriceless victory for the Black Stars. The captain, who was absent from Ghana’s opening loss against Senegal,as he was recovering from a bout of malaria, was the star of the match. He was still lacking a little bit of match fitness on his return, but asthe game grew, he started to grow into it and had the last say for his countrywith his 45th international goal.
Gyan leftSunderland in 2012 for a lucrative deal with Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain, but the lastyear was extremely difficult for him; few months back he was associated with mediaspeculations that linked him to the alleged ritual sacrifice of his friends, theGhanaian rapper Castro and his girlfriend. The pair disappeared in late Julywhile jet skiing during a holiday with Gyan’s family.
Both, the rapper and his girlfriend, werepresumed drowned, but their bodies were never recovered, which lead to various malicious theoriesover what exactly happened with the pair. The footballer has always denied associationwith any ritual sacrifice of his friends.
Ghana arenow second in Group C, one point behind Senegal who secured top spot in thegroup, after they came from behind to hold South Africa.
