In South Africa 2010, Ghana had a chance to become the first African nation to reach the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup but Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty.
Playing against 1930 winners Uruguay, Luis Suarez handled a goal-bound ball and was sent off.
However, Gyan failed to convert the penalty and after 10 men of Uruguay held in extra time, they eliminated the Black Stars.
The two nations are pitted against each other in Group H along with Korea Republic and Cristiano Ronaldoβs Portugal which gives the African nation an opportunity to revenge.
Coach β Otto Addo
The 47-year-old will be among the youngest coaches in Qatar but he isn’t afraid of the task ahead of him.
In fact, he believes his side is good enough to beat anyone at the tournament.
βWe have a lot of quality. I see that in training and in our matches too,β Addo who guided the Black Stars past Nigeria in the playoff told Fifa.com.
βIt was an especially tough game against Nigeria but we competed with them even though we had made a lot of changes. The players adapted very well and very quickly,β he added.
βWeβre in good shape defensively, we read the game well and have a good feel for when to press the opposition at the right time.β
Addo had a good playing career in Germany where he featured for Hamburger, Hannover, Mainz, and Dortmund where he also coached in the academy.
Key Player β Thomas Taye Partey
The Arsenal man is on form at the moment and heads into the world cup after helping the Gunners to the top of the table.
He is a leader who is never afraid of responsibility and links the backline to the attack and often shows up with an odd goal.
Much of what Ghana will achieve in Qatar will depend on how Partey operates in the middle of the pack.
Captain β Andre Dede Ayew
He is a familiar figure in Qatar as he features for Al Saad in the Qatar League.
The son to Ghana great Abedi Pele, the 32-year-old will be tasked with turning his experience into goals along with his young brother Jordan Ayew.
Ayew has over 107 caps with 23 goals and will overtake Asamoah Gyanβs 109 caps for Ghana at the world cup in Qatar.
In 2010, he was voted second behind Germanyβs Thomas Muller in the young player category and he won the U-20 Youth World Cup in 2009.
World Cup History
Shockingly, Ghana had never played at the World Cup until 2006 when they qualified for the edition held in Germany where they reached the round of 16 and were eliminated by then-holders Brazil.
They went to play in South Africa where they reached the quarterfinals and then 2014 in Brazil where they were the only team not to lose to eventual winners Germany at the tournament despite not getting beyond the group stages.
They were a no-show in 2018 in Russia as Egypt got the better of them in the playoff.
Ghana Fixtures in Qatar
- November 24: Vs Portugal
- November 28: Vs Korea Republic
- December 02: vs Uruguay
You can watch all Ghana Black Stars games and other fixtures live on GOTV Uganda.
Buy aΒ GOcoda for 25k, then upgrade to GOtv SupaΒ to enjoy Ghana’s games and all 64 games of the World Cup live in the comfort of your sitting room.
