The Black Stars of Ghana have made a giant step towards Qatar 2022 after impressively beating the Bafana Bafana of South Africa by a goal to nil in their final Group G game of the World Cup qualification process.
The Black Stars came into the game trailing the South Africans three points after drawing with Ethiopia in Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon. But on Sunday evening, Milovan Rajevac’s men produced an encouraging display to ensure they make it to the next stage of the qualification process.
The Bafana Bafana went into the game seeking to get a draw and make it to the playoffs phase as they sat at the back and watched the Black Stars dominate. Jordan Ayew nearly put Ghana ahead in the opening stages of the game when he was played through by Mohammed Kudus but the Crystal Palace forward’s shot was beautifully blocked by the South African defense to give away a corner kick to the Black Stars.
A few minutes after that saw Sao Pauli midfielder Kofi Kyere missed a sitter after replacing the injured Mohammed Kudus. The Ghanaians’ dominance yielded dividends in the 33rd minute as skipper Andre Ayew scored from the penalty spot after Daniel Amartey was brought down by the South African defense.
The Black Stars were unrelenting after the recess, creating glaring opportunities in a quest to double their advantage but profligacy in front of goal meant they would end the game with a 1-0 victory.
JoJo Wolocott profoundly saved Percy Tau’s long-range effort to make sure Ghana did not concede. Hugo Broos’ men kept exerting pressure on Ghana in search of an equalizer but could not find joy owing to the resoluteness and resilience of the Black Stars’ defense coupled with stupendous goalkeeping from Jojo Wolocott.
After ninety minutes of enthralling display of soccer, it was the Black Stars of Ghana who beat the Bafana Bafana of South Africa by a lone goal and succeeded to turn the Cape Coast Stadium into a state of ecstasy.
Ghana will have to shrug off competition from the likes of Morocco, Senegal, DR Congo, Mali, Nigeria, among others before making it to Qatar 2022. South Africa on the other hand, will lick their wounds and prepare for the next World Cup in 2026.
Ghana has appeared in the World Cup finals three times on the spin:2006,2010 and 2014 whereas South Africa’s last appearance was in 2010 when they hosted it.
Source/www.a1radioonline.com/101.1mhz/Elijah Beyeni Yenibey/Ghana
