Football World Cup 2014 / Ghana

This article covers the Ghanaian national soccer team at the soccer world cup 2014 in Brazil . Ghana took part for the third time in the finals and for the first time in a World Cup finals in South America and was eliminated for the first time in the preliminary round.

qualification

Ghana qualified through the CAF qualification . In the group stage of the second round, the team met Zambia, the 2012 African champions, Lesotho and Sudan. All home games were played in the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi , the largest stadium in Ghana. As Ghana lost their first game against Zambia, qualification was open until the last matchday. By beating Zambia 2-1 in the second leg, Ghana won the group and made it to the playoffs.

table

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Ghana	6th	5	0	1	018: 300	+15	15th
2.	Zambia	6th	3	2	1	011: 400	+7	11
3.	Lesotho	6th	1	2	3	004:160	−12	05
4th	Sudan	6th	0	2	4th	004:140	−10	02

date	place	opponent	Result	Goals for Ghana
June 1, 2012	Kumasi	Lesotho	7-0	Sulley Muntari (15th), Dominic Adiyiah (24th, 49th), Jordan Ayew (45th, 89th), Christian Atsu (86th), Jerry Akaminko (90th + 1)
June 9, 2012	Ndola ( ZAM )	Zambia	0: 1
March 24, 2013	Kumasi	Sudan	4-0	Asamoah Gyan (19th), Wakaso Mubarak (38th), Abdul Majeed Waris (80th), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (83rd)
June 7, 2013	Omdurman ( SDN )	Sudan	3: 1	Asamoah Gyan (20th, 57th), Sulley Muntari (83th)
June 16, 2013	Maseru ( LSO )	Lesotho	2-0	John Boye (45.), Asamoah Gyan (82.)
September 6, 2013	Kumasi	Zambia	2: 1	Abdul Majeed Waris (17th), Kwadwo Asamoah (60th)

Group winners playoff games

date	place	opponent	Result	Goals for Ghana
15 October 2013	Kumasi	Egypt	6: 1	Asamoah Gyan (4th, 53rd), Wael Gomaa (23rd / ET), Abdul Majeed Waris (44th), Sulley Muntari (72nd / Elf), Christian Atsu (88th)
19th November 2013	Cairo ( EGY )	Egypt	1: 2	Kevin-Prince Boateng (83rd)

Ghana scored the most of all African teams in the group stage with 18 goals and none of them scored more goals in the playoffs. A total of 31 players were used in the eight games. The only player who was always used was Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu . He was only in the starting line-up in the first two games. The top scorer was Asamoah Gyan with 6 goals, who was the top scorer of the African teams with two Egyptian players and replaced Abédi Pelé as Ghanaian record scorer with two goals in the 3-1 win against Sudan . The at Chelsea playing Michael Essien came only in the last three games to use, Kevin-Prince Boateng at the last game in Egypt.

preparation

On January 4, Ghana won a friendly 1-0 against Namibia in Windhoek and met in the preliminary round at the African Nations Cup , in which only players who play in the national championships of their home countries were eligible to play against the Republic of the Congo (1: 0 on January 13), Libya (1: 1 on January 17) and Ethiopia (1: 0 on January 21), won 1-0 in the quarter-finals against the Democratic Republic of the Congo on January 25 and on January 29 in the semifinals against Nigeria with a 4-1 on penalties and lost on February 1 in the final on penalties with 3: 4 against Libya.

Black Stars test matches:

• 0March 5 in Podgorica for the first time against Montenegro: 0: 1
• May 31 in Rotterdam against the Netherlands: 0-1
• 0June 9 in Miami against South Korea: 4-0 (goalscorers: Ayew / 11th, 53rd and 89th and Gyan / 44th)

Finals

Squad

On May 12, 2014, coach James Kwesi Appiah named a preliminary roster with 26 players, which was reduced to 23 players by June 2, 2014. Before the third game, Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng were suspended. Through his three appearances, Asamoah Gyan was now a total of 11 World Cup games, Ghanaian World Cup record player and replaced John Paintsil and Richard Kingson from the previous record holders.

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the tournament	International matches *	Länderspiel- gates *	birthday	Games	Gates				World Cup participation	World Cup games (total)	World Cup goals (total)
goalkeeper
01	Stephen Adams	Aduana Stars	006th	00	28 Sep 1984	0	0	0	0	0
16	Fatau Dauda	Orlando Pirates	018th	00	0Apr 6, 1985	2	0	0	0	0
12	Adam Larsen Kwarasey	Strømsgodset IF M *	021st	00	Dec 12, 1987	1	0	0	0	0
Defense
23	Harrison Afful	Espérance Sportive de Tunis M	041	00	June 24, 1986	2	0	1	0	0
21st	John Boye	Stade Rennes P.	030th	03	Apr 23, 1987	3	0	0	0	0
02	Samuel Inkoom	AO Platanias	046	01	0June 1, 1989	0	0	0	0	0	2010	2	0
19th	Jonathan Mensah	FC Evian Thonon Gaillard	026th	01	July 13, 1990	3	0	0	0	0	2010	3	0
04th	Daniel Opare	Standard Liège M	016	00	Oct 18, 1990	1	0	0	0	0
15th	Rashid Sumaila	Mamelodi Sundowns M	008th	00	Dec 18, 1992	0	0	0	0	0
midfield
06th	Afriyie Acquah	Parma FC	005	01	0Jan. 5, 1992	1	0	0	0	0
14th	Albert Adomah	Middlesbrough FC *	015th	01	Dec 13, 1987	1	0	0	0	0
08th	Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu	Udinese Calcio	048	07th	0Dec 2, 1990	2	0	0	0	0
20th	Kwadwo Asamoah	Juventus Turin M	062	04th	0Dec 9, 1988	3	0	0	0	0	2010	5	0
07th	Christian Atsu	Vitesse Arnhem	023	04th	Jan. 10, 1992	3	0	0	0	0
10	André Ayew	Olympique Marseille	048	04th	Dec 17, 1989	3	2	0	0	0	2010	4th	0
05	Michael Essien	AC Milan	057	09	0Dec 3, 1982	1	0	0	0	0	2006	3	0
11	Sulley Muntari	AC Milan	080	22nd	Aug 27, 1984	2	0	2	0	0	2006, 2010	7th	2
17th	Mohammed Rabiu	FK Kuban Krasnodar	017th	00	Dec. 31, 1989	3	0	1	0	0
22nd	Wakaso Mubarak	Rubin Kazan	017th	07th	July 25, 1990	2	0	0	0	0
attack
13	Jordan Ayew	FC Sochaux A	016	05	Sep 11 1991	3	0	1	0	0
09	Kevin-Prince Boateng	FC Schalke 04	013	02	06th Mar 1987	2	0	0	0	0	2010	5	1
03	Asamoah Gyan	al Ain Club	079	42	Nov 22, 1985	3	2	0	0	0	2006, 2010	8th	4th
18th	Abdul Majeed Waris	Valenciennes FC A	013	03	19 Sep 1991	1	0	1	0	0
Coaching staff
	James Kwesi Appiah	Trainer	12+	0	August 9, 1959						2010

(*) only the games and goals that were played or scored before the start of the World Cup are given

1. ↑ M = The club was champion of its country in the 2013/14 season, M * = The club was champion of its country in the 2013 season (the current season is still running), A = The club was relegated from the country's highest league, P = The club won the cup in the 2013/14 season, * = The club plays in the second highest league in its country.
2. ↑ ^{a b} As a player
3. ↑ As a trainer assistant

Group stage

natal Brasília Fortaleza Maceió

Venues (red) and quarters (blue)

At the draw for the final round on December 6, 2013, Ghana was drawn from group G with group head Germany. The USA and Portugal were also drawn into the group. Ghana played the last group game against Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa on June 23, 2010 and, despite the 0: 1, made it to the second round. The USA, now trained by the former German national coach Jürgen Klinsmann , were opponents in the round of 16, which Ghana won 2-1 after extra time. At the 2006 World Cup, Ghana met the USA and prevailed 2-1 in the last group game, so that the team qualified for the round of 16. Ghana had never played against Portugal before. Before the World Cup, Ghana had not played in any of the three venues.

Before the draw, Kevin-Prince Boateng wanted Germany and thus his half-brother Jérôme Boateng to be the opponents of the preliminary round again.

The team's quarters were the Radisson Hotel Maceió in Maceió .

Ghana's first group game against the USA started with a lightning goal for the Americans within the first minute. Ghana equalized and dominated the game. However, it missed more chances and lost the game shortly before the end. Ghana played against Germany from a solid defense. Götze put Germany in the lead at the beginning of the second half. However, Ghana equalized and then took a 2-1 lead. The substitute Klose equalized. In a dramatic final phase, both teams delivered an open exchange of blows, but it remained at 2-2. In the last game, Ghana needed a win by a goal difference of two goals. However, the defeat by Portugal sealed Ghana's exit. Due to the 2-2 win against eventual world champions, Ghana remained the only team that could win a point against Germany.

→ Main article : Football World Cup 2014 / Group G

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Germany	3	2	1	0	007: 200	+5	07th
2.	United States	3	1	1	1	004: 400	± 0	04th
3.	Portugal	3	1	1	1	004: 700	−3	04th
4th	Ghana	3	0	1	2	004: 600	−2	01

• Mon., June 16, 2014, 7:00 p.m. (00:00 a.m. CEST) in Natal

 Ghana - USA 1: 2 (0: 1) 

• Sat, June 21, 2014, 4:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. CEST) in Fortaleza

 Germany - Ghana 2: 2 (0: 0) 

• Thursday, June 26, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in Brasília

 Portugal - Ghana 2: 1 (1: 0) 

Sports impact

Ghana fell from 37th to 38th in the FIFA World Ranking .

Web links

• All qualifiers

References and footnotes

1. ↑ ORANGE AFRICAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP 2014 - MATCHES & RESULTS
2. ↑ kicker.de: "Ghana throws Boateng and Muntari out"
3. ↑ Release List of Players from May 16, 2014
4. ↑ dfb.de: "" Life is so beautiful! ": Boateng's World Cup duel with Germany"
5. ↑ fifa.com: team quarters
6. ↑ World champion fifa.com: "Germany takes over the top position"