Now that the draw has taken place, it's time to start scouting and posting relevant information on our opponent's players, tactics, and news. Let the fun begin!
They seem to have Ricardo Clark's number.......it pains me to say this but we may have to leave him at home for this one.
It bothers me that the best Ghanaian footballer on the planet wont be on the pitch. My hope is Jozy wears a tshirt of Freddy under his kit and raises that flag high when he scores.
Comparing to 2010 Howard is better michael is better aron will be better than Findley Jozy will be better Dono and Dempsey will be older ...but wiser? We have Jermaine Cameron is in excellent form Gonzo played well in his last two Aannnndddd, now for the bad news.....
12 guys started for them in their H/H with Egypt. They were: GK: Fatau Dauda - Plays for the Orlando Pirates which I thought was a USL team, but is actually a South African club. Defenders: David Opare - Standard Liege. Has a 7.22 whoscored rating in his Europa League games. Jerry Akaminko - Turkish League Rashid Sumaila - South African League. Samuel Inkoom - No club. Was in Ukrainian League, and on loan at Bastia in France last season. Harrison Afful - Tunisian League. Midfield: Kwadwo Asamoah - Juventus. 7.3 rating in Serie A games, 6.7 in the Champions League Michael Essien - Chelsea. You know this guy, but he only has two appearances this year and rated 5.85 Sulley Muntari - AC Milan. 6.86 in Serie A, 6.97 in CL. Andre Ayew - Marseille. 7.31 in Ligue 1, 7.48 in CL. Forwards: Asamoah Gyan - Took a pay day in UAE after being loaned there. Leading scorer of the league FWIW. Abdul Majeed Waris - Spartak Moscow. 6.03 rating, only 3 sub appearances. Midfield obviously the strength of this squad. Defense/GK look very suspect based on Club pedigree.
Kevin Prince-Boateng will be there, right? I know he doesn't play in normal games, but they can't turn him down for the WC if he wants in.
Prediction-Some Ghana players loose focus and team unity over money/pay disparity. They'll threaten to boycott prep games when they are not paid properly by their federation.
They seem to be a carbon copy of the US, minus a world class goal keeper (or 2). I'll take Jones, Bradley, and Dempsey (under the striker) against those midfielders. They have more pedigree, but Jones is a big game player, and Bradley takes away the advantage by controlling the pace of the game. Also, the key to the midfield could be Donovan, Dempsey, Fabian Johnson, and Altidore keeping the central midfielders of Ghana tracking back too often to bomb forward. Their backline seems about as suspect as ours. And I'll take our forwards over theirs. Also, our biggest advantage seems to be at goalkeeper.
That's not how it goes. It's like this: <Indiana Jones Voice> Ghana. Why'd it have to be Ghana? </Indiana Jones Voice>
Well it didn't have to be Ghana, but we should be glad it's Ghana. It's a chance to get sweet, sweet revenge for the bitterness of the last two WCs. It's going to make getting three points in the first group game extra rewarding.
Ghana has the advantage of the prior two cup results. If you were them, wouldn't you be ok with the fact you were opening the tournament against the US? If we lose to Ghana, the exponential affect of needing to get a result versus Portugal will be immense. There are many days between now and then to ponder the "what-ifs," and I'm sure BS will do its darn-est to unearth every feasible outcome and potential path to advancement. The four teams all advanced from group stage play in 2010. This has to be the only group heading into 2014 with that pedigree. The pressure to make something happen versus Ghana will be immense. I just hope we don't pull a Jan Koller and concede in the worst possible way so early into our first contest. How far have we come? Far enough to defeat Ghana? Certainly a possibility but no easy task. Far enough to beat today's Portugal? Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Far enough to beat a fully loaded Germany? Um...not next year's Germany. The match versus Ghana will be intensely insane, or insanely intense.