Ghana is synonymous with the success of African national teams at the biggest football shows.
"Black Stars" are the selection from the Black Continent that was closest to the fight for medals. However, in the 120th minute of the quarter-final match against Uruguay in South Africa 2010, after Luis Suarez saved the goal with his hands, Asamoah Gyan shot the crossbar from the penalty spot. The Urus were then more successful in the penalty shoot-out, and the sadness in Ghana was endless...
12 years later, Ghana was drawn again against Uruguay, and already in the group, in which Portugal is the first favorite in the competition with South Korea and the two mentioned selections. Ghana opens the tournament in Qatar against Portugal on November 24, from which it was defeated in the group in 2014 by a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo (2:1), and in the third round, on December 2, it will try to get revenge on Uruguay for the great pain.
The "Black Stars" are playing at the world championships for the fourth time, and they achieved their greatest success in South Africa, with the sounds of now somewhat forgotten vuvuzelas. That sound seemed to push them forward with great aces in the team such as Gjan, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Sali Muntari... On the bench was a Serb, Milovan Rajevac.
Rajevac is no longer on the bench, although he returned in 2021, led Ghana to the playoffs through the qualifiers, and was fired due to poor results at the African Cup of Nations in January this year.
The public insisted on a local expert and Otto Ado, who played for Borussia Dortmund as a footballer, was appointed. Ghana still has a large number of stars, but the question is how Ado will fit it all in considering the fact that he does not have much coaching experience, even in independent decision-making. He managed to win the World Cup in the first two months on the bench in playoff matches with two draws against Nigeria, 0:0 at home, 1:1 away.
Ghana, however, has its trump cards, since the team, apart from the goalkeeping position, is made up of established or rising stars. The main driver of the team should be Arsenal's ace Thomas Partey, and Jordan Ayew, the son of one of the best African players of all time, Abedi Pele, is still in the attack. Numerous departures from Ajax last summer opened up a space that 22-year-old Muhamed Kudus used with speed and technique, and Kamal Sulemana, two years younger, is a rising star in Ligue 1, and is playing brilliantly in Rennes.
A big boost for Ghana is the decision of 28-year-old Ignacio Williams to play for his parents' country, even though he was born in Bilbao and even made one appearance for the Spanish national team back in 2016 in a 3:1 victory over the BiH national team, and for " "fury" will be played at the Mundial by his eight years younger brother and teammate from Athletic Bilbao, Niko. And unlike other African selections, Ghana has a granite defense led by Daniel Amarti from Leicester and Alexandre Dzhiku from Strasbourg.
Ghana, however, in competition with Portugal and Uruguay, are given little chance to advance from the group - bookmakers offer a coefficient of 3,4, and for winning the World Cup, the bet is multiplied by 250.
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