On this day 14 June 2015(Exactly 5 years ago today) Ghana began its campaign in the 2017 AFCON qualifying series with a resounding 7 :1 win over Mauritius.
A brace each from Jordan Ayew and Asamoah Gyan with Jeffery Schlupp and David Accam getting their debut Ghana goal and an opener from Christian Atsu handed the Black Stars the thumping win at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Black Stars showed clear intent from the start with Asamoah Gyan being released into a one-on-one situation with his marker within the opening two minutes.
But the Al Ain ace clearly lacked his speed of old to shake off Ravina Bruno.
The hosts however worked out another glorious chance two minutes later but Jeffery Schlupp’s header into a gaping post was not well directed.
Then it was the turn of Jordan Ayew to make his presence felt as he beat his marker with cheeky ease to send in a driven cross but no one was available to make the final connection.
Ghana was clearly on top, pinning the visitors in their own half but the finishing was lacking and the crowd was increasingly getting edgy.
The Black Stars’ profligacy was nearly punished in the 8th minute when Bru Kevin’s free kick from 30-yards out almost dipped in-behind Razak Braimah whose outstretched right hand tipped it over for a corner.
That half-chance for Mauritius proved to be the needed wake up call for the Black Stars who finally broke the deadlock on the 10th minute mark by Christian Atsu.
He finished off a nice buildup deep in the Ghanaian half with a headed goal off the inviting cross of Harrison Afful.
Gyan should have doubled the lead five minutes later but his decision to shoot at the near-post as against squaring for the on-rushing Jordan Ayew proved to be the wrong one as goalkeeper Jean Louis parried away.
But Ayew returned two minute later to put things right by scoring Ghana’s second, finishing off an impressive burst from left-back Baba Abdul Rahman.
The clearly dominant Black Stars at this point could have even scored a third two minutes later but Christian Atsu’s outstretched limbs attempting to connect to a driven cross failed to materialize.
Asamoah Gyan then became the culprit of his own impressive finishes as he missed a staggering clear header to spare the shell-shocked Mauritians.
The Black Stars captain however atoned for his earlier mistake by tapping in with only goalkeeper Jean Louis to beat after some great work on the flanks by Jordan Ayew.
Coach Akbar Patel couldn’t take any more of the gaping humiliation and effected his first substitution after 27 minutes – bringing on Justin Jonathan for Perticots Joseph in a bid to give his sleeping attack the needed bite.
Ghana however scored the next goal through Asamoah Gyan, heading in off a free kick to give the hosts a commanding 4-0 lead after just 30 minutes.
The thumping scoreline even saw coach Avram Grant inexplicably move to the dressing room only to return at the hint of a Ghana concession.
Sophie Andy capitalized on a defensive mishap to tap in off a free kick to pull one back for Mauritius.
But Jordan Ayew returned again to score off a rebound in the penalty box to extend Ghana’s lead to five 10 minutes before recess.
Ghana appeared sluggish off the blocks at the start of the second half with the soggy pitch making passes and ball control difficult.
Atsu had a chance to score his personal second on the day after breaking free into the Mauritius penalty area but made a sorry appeal for a spot kick with the faintest of touch from his marker.
Mauritius however failed to take full advantage of Ghana’s sluggishness especially with a glorious chance in the 53rdminute when Lafoudre Louis couldn’t was blocked from further progress after he had beaten goalkeeper Razak Brimah.
Gyan was then robbed off a chance of completing his hat-trick in the 56th minute when an enticing cross by Baba Rahman was well cut off from reaching the waiting-to-pounce Ghana captain.
Jeffery Schlupp grabbed his debut Ghana goal in the 67th minute – finishing off another beautiful buildup.
The Black Stars were simply toing with the Mauritians thereafter, creating chance after chance but sadly lacking the finishing with Asamoah Gyan being the worst culprit.
The Al Ain ace who has been so prolific in his entire international career strangely couldn’t find his target even with a greeting empty net.
Gyan first had an opportunity to just slot in after controlling well with his chest in the box but his ensuing volley inexplicably went wide in the 78th minute.
He again had an even better chance two minutes later with goalkeeper Jean Louis committed to the ground to finish off but yet again missed to the amazement of everyone.
Ghana kept carving out opportunities but a combination of misfortune, good goalkeeper and perhaps fatigue saw Ghana fail to add up to their already flattering tally.
But substitute David Accam after several near misses slotted in with just a minute of play left to put a double gloss on a very impressive performance of the Black Stars.
Goals Scored
Ghana
Christian Atsu (11)
Jordan Ayew (17,38)
Asamoah Gyan (23,30)
Jeffery Schlupp (66)
David Accam (90)
Mauritius
Jean – Pierre Andy Sophie (32)
Ghana Starting XI: Razak Braimah, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah, Baba Rahman, Jeffrey Schlupp, Emmanuel Agyemang- Badu, Christian Atsu, Mubarak Wakaso, Jordan Ayew, Asamoah Gyan (C)
Elsewhere;
On this day 14 June 2012 (Exactly 8 years ago today) The vice president of the Ghana Football Association, Jordan Anagblah died in Accra after a short illness at 55.
On this day 14 June 2015 (Exactly 5 years ago today) Former Ghana international George Arthur, who was full of live in the early hours of the day, couldn’t survive cardiac arrest and lost his live after being rushed to the Sunyani government hospital for treatment.
Arthur was playing draughts with friends when he suddenly collapsed and died upon reaching the Sunyani government hospital.
King George Arthur, as he was affectionately called during his playing days, joined Kumasi Asante Kotoko in the 1980’s from Brong Ahafo United before he moved to Al Ahly.
On this day 14 June 1998 (Exactly 22 years ago today) Robert Prosinecki became the only player to score for two countries in the history of the FIFA World Cup after scoring for Croatia in their 3- 1win over Jamaica. He had previously scored for Yugoslavia in their 4-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates in 1990.
On this day 14 June 1980 (Exactly 40 years ago today) Germany’s Klaus Allofs became the second player to score a hat-trick in the history of the UEFA European Championship in a 3-2 win over the Netherlands in Napoli.
West Germany 3-2 Netherlands
Goals Scored
Germany
Klaus Allofs (20,60,66)
Netherlands
Johnny Rep(80 penalty)
W. van de Kerkhorf(85)
On this day 14 June 2018 (Exactly 2 years ago today) Hosts Russia could not have wished for a better start to their own FIFA World Cup tournament following their resounding 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia.
Iury Gazinsky scored the first goal of Russia 2018 with a firmly-placed header, before substitute Denis Cheryshev – who replaced the injured Alan Dzagoev – scored the second before the break. Artem Dzyuba’s goal came mere moments after being introduced before Cheryshev’s stunner and Aleksandr Golovin’s free kick sealed the victory
Budweiser Man of the Match
The quality of Denis Cheryshev’s double, particularly the timeliness of his first goal just before half-time, earned the hosts’ early substitute Budweiser Man of the Match honours.
The stat
2 – Only two players have scored as a substitute in the Opening Match of the World Cup, and both did so during this match. Denis Cheryshev scored twice, sandwiching Artem Dzyuba’s goal with his first touch, less than a minute after coming on
On this day 14 June 2005 (Exactly 15 years ago today) Jamaica’s Asafa Powell set a new 100 meters world record after clocking a time of 9.77 seconds at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
On a warm summer’s night on one of the fastest tracks in the world, the then 22-year-old beat Tim Montgomery’s previous record of 9.78 set in Paris in September 2002 to become the fastest man ever over the distance
On this day 14 June 1975(Exactly 46 years ago today) 18-times Grand Slam singles title champion, Chris Evert beat Martina Navratilova 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 for her 2nd of 7 French singles titles
By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah