Brazil go through, but the 3-0 scoreline is unfair on the Ghanaians. It was a good, hard-fought football match which had plenty of skillful moments and was highly enjoyable to watch. Ronaldo beat Gerd Muller's record by scoring his third goal of the tournament, and is improving with every game. John Pantsil must feel he could have done better - he was at least ten yards behind the defensive line and played Ronaldo onside. Ghana could and perhaps should have scored a couple, but fantastic approach play was let down by poor decision-making in front of goal. Dida's fortuitous save from Mensah's header near the end of the first half was a turning point in the game. Brazil managed to survive that scare and scored a second goal on the stroke of half-time, in spite of overwhelming evidence that Adriano was offside twice during the move. Adriano might feel he should have been awarded a penalty earlier, when a run into the box ended with him tripping over the body of goalkeeper Richard Kingson. Replays proved inconclusive, and I'm sure that the referee kept yesterday's incident in mind when making his decision.
Ghana continued to attack and their midfield, as always, looked lively. Unfortunately, they took selfish choices far too often, deciding to go for glory from distance when passing the ball would have been a better option. Haminu Draman was one of the biggest culprits, twice trying audacious shots from an improbable angle. Brazil could not settle into their normal passing rhythm until midway through the second half, and from that point on there was only ever going to be one winner. A wonderful passing move (25 passes in total) resulted in a chipped ball to Ze Roberto, who sprung another woeful offside trap with ease and made it 3-0. The score may have been harsh on the Africans, who would have gone further in the tournament had the draw been slightly different, but Brazil showed them a thing or two about ruthlessness in front of goal. Ghana would also do well to sort out their offside trap, which was easily beaten by the Brazilians for two goals. Brazil weren't at their best today, but they were good enough to go through to the quarter-finals, where they shall meet either Spain or 1998 winners France. As the old cliche goes, there are no more easy games here.
Ghana continued to attack and their midfield, as always, looked lively. Unfortunately, they took selfish choices far too often, deciding to go for glory from distance when passing the ball would have been a better option. Haminu Draman was one of the biggest culprits, twice trying audacious shots from an improbable angle. Brazil could not settle into their normal passing rhythm until midway through the second half, and from that point on there was only ever going to be one winner. A wonderful passing move (25 passes in total) resulted in a chipped ball to Ze Roberto, who sprung another woeful offside trap with ease and made it 3-0. The score may have been harsh on the Africans, who would have gone further in the tournament had the draw been slightly different, but Brazil showed them a thing or two about ruthlessness in front of goal. Ghana would also do well to sort out their offside trap, which was easily beaten by the Brazilians for two goals. Brazil weren't at their best today, but they were good enough to go through to the quarter-finals, where they shall meet either Spain or 1998 winners France. As the old cliche goes, there are no more easy games here.
1 comment:
Totally agree...Excellent comments.
Gurpreet
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