Asamoah Gyan sends Ghana into Africa Cup of Nations final
Asamoah Gyan scored the only goal as Ghana booked a place in the Africa Cup of Nations final with a victory over Nigeria. The Rennes striker struck in the 21st minute, with a powerful header from a Kwadwo Asamoah corner.
Nigeria dominated the game but wasteful finishing, dogged defending and good saves from Wigan’s Richard Kingston helped Ghana into the final for the first time since 1992.
Solid performances from Ghana keeper Richard Kingson and his defence kept Nigeria from capitalising on some solid second-half pressure.
After scoring, Ghana put men behind the ball, spending much of the second half with their backs to the wall.
Yet, while soaking up copious amounts of pressure, their organised defence made life extremely difficult for the Nigerians who were clearly lacking a cutting edge.
Ghanaian centre-half Isaac Vorsah found himself head-to-head with his Hoffenheim team-mate Chinedu Obasi – and the Ghanaian will have bragging rights when they return to Germany.
Black Star goalkeeper and captain Kingson made some key stops in both halves to deny Nigeria.
Kingson’s stand-out moment came as he made himself big to prevent Obafemi Martins from slotting home.
Martins had latched on to a deftly chipped through-ball from John Obi Mikel – who had an otherwise uninspiring game, like many of his team-mates.
Martins’ pace looked like it could cause trouble but with the Ghanaians defending deeply the Wolfsburg forward could not find sufficient space.
On the couple of occasions he made his pace count – in the 70th and 77th minute – he was too near the goalline, and too hurried on the ball, to craft a realistic goal-scoring opportunity.
The withdrawal of Osaze Odemwingie 20 minutes from time came as something of surprise, with the Lokomotiv Moscow striker being one of Super Eagles’ few genuine threats.
His replacement, Yakubu, almost made an immediate impact and perhaps should have scored when he connected with a drilled ball across the penalty area in the 76th minute.
Aside from the goal, the first semi-final largely lacked in quality in the final third.
The first-half winner came against the run of play.
Gyan lost the attention of his marker with a well-timed run to the near-post before meeting Kwadwo Asamoah’s whipped ball.
“It’s unbelievable,” Gyan said after the game.
“We are a young team and not many people gave us a chance of making the final.”
Gyan’s early goal, while it should have opened up the game, had the opposite effect – Ghana seemed more than happy to settle for a 1-0 lead.
Ghana: Kingson, Inkoom, Vorsah, Addy, Sarpei (Rahim Ayew 53), Andre Ayew, Agyemang-Badu, Annan, Asamoah, Gyan (Amoah 84), Opoku (Draman 35).
Subs Not Used: McCarthy, Osei, Mensah, Essien, Narry, Addo, Adiyah, Afful, Adjei.
Booked: Draman, Annan, Inkoom, Kingson.
Goals: Gyan 21.
Nigeria: Enyeama, Mohammed (Odiah 80), Nwaneri, Shittu, Echiejile, Kaita, Mikel, Yussuf (Obinna 67), Odemwingie (Yakubu 70), Martins, Obasi.
Subs Not Used: Ejide, Yobo, Taiwo, Kanu, Olofinjana, Uche, Etuhu, Apam, Aiyenugbu.
Booked: Yussuf.
Attendance: 7,500
Ref: Daniel Bennet (South Africa).
Other AFCON fixtures on 28 January
1996 Quarter-finals: Ghana 1-0 Zaire
1996Quarter-finals: Gabon 1-1 Tunisia AET
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2000 Group: Cameroon 3-0 Ivory Coast
2000 Group: Egypt 1-0 Senegal
2000 Group: Nigeria 0-0 Congo-Brazaville
2002 Group: Mali 2-0 Algeria
2002 Group: Liberia 0-1 Nigeria
2004 Group: Tunisia 3-0 DR Congo
2004 Group: Rwanda 1-1 Guinea
2006 Group: Egypt 3-1 Ivory Coast
2006 Group: Libya 0-0 Morocco
2008 Group: Guinea 1-1 Namibia
2008 Group: Ghana 2-0 Morocco
2010 Semi-finals: Egypt 4-0 Algeria
2012 Group: Botswana 1-6 Guinea
2012 Group: Ghana 2-0 Mali
2013 Group: Ghana 3-0 Niger
2013 Group: DR Congo 1-1 Mali
2015 Group: Cameroon 0-1 Ivory Coast
2015 Group: Guinea 1-1 Mali
2017 Quarter-finals: Burkina Faso 2-0 Tunisia
2017 Quarter-finals:Senegal 0-0 Cameroon AET
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By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah