This summer’s Brazilian World Cup is sneaking up on us, and as with all great things, the anticipation of the event is one of its greatest pleasures. There’s nothing like gorging on details beforehand because once the tournament kicks off, it’s going to be a blaze of complicated and enthralling storylines, byzantine history, bad luck, and then, almost without warning, it’ll be over. I’ll be hitting one team a week, and I won’t get to them all, because some of the great joys of a World Cup are the surprises.
Primer part one: Ghana
Let’s start with the basics. Ghana. Nickname: The Black Stars. From an American perspective, the fact that Ghana is nominally our group’s weakest team is a garnish of truly bad luck, one of those exquisite twists of plot that World Cups abound in. You see, beside the US and Ghana, our group consists of Germany (possibly the best team in the world, ranked second after Spain by FIFA) and Portugal (ranked fourth, team of Cristiano Ronaldo, 2013 Ballon D’Or winner, unhuman goal machine): they’re both easy favorites for advancing far into the tournament, and upsetting either would be quite a feat. Ghana is ranked 35th by FIFA, the US 14th. What’s the big deal? Surely the US feels comfortable in its traditional dark horse position of third favorite? Well, Ghana eliminated the US from the 2006 World Cup in their debut tournament, in the Group Stage. And, in 2010, they eliminated US again, this time in the stage subsequent to group, The Round of 16. They’re two for two.
They’re no easy mark. They’re the Americans’ bogey team, and they’re the least of our worries.
Key Players
Don’t let the fact that they’ve only attended two World Cups and are ranked relatively lowly by FIFA fool you. The Black Stars are have a lot of world class talent.
Asamoah Gyan: Gyan is the Black Stars’ captain, an experienced international who got his first cap at age 17, and has played club soccer for perennial Italian overachievers Udinese, English underdogs Sunderland, and United Arab Emirates club Al Ain. In 31 appearances at Sunderland in 2010-2011 he scored 10 goals. US striker Jozy Altidore currently plays for Sunderland; he’s appeared 25 times so far this season and scored one goal. But I should leave poor Jozy alone. Gyan is known for his dancing celebrations; check out this for a sort of mashup of his skills vs Togolese international Emanuel Adebayor’s. It’s set to a song Gyan guests on; the video has nearly a million views. You’ll dig it.
Kevin Prince-Boateng: A defensive midfielder known for ill temper and a neck tattoo (a classic combo), Prince-Boateng has played for Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, and AC Milan, and currently resides in the Bundesliga with Schalke. He scored against the US in just the fourth minute in the 2010 World Cup. I don’t much like him, he’s a punk, but he’s good when focused.
Michael Essien: Once hailed as one of the very best deep-lying midfielders on the planet, Essien is now in the latter stages of his career. He won Ligue 1 twice with Lyon, and the Premier League twice with Chelsea. A truly classy player, but past his prime.
Kwadwo Asamoah: Asamoah is a fast, adaptable wide player who has played to great effect for Italian giants Juventus in both left wing and the specialist wing-back position.
Sulley Muntari: A powerfully built central midfielder, Muntari currently plays for AC Milan, but he won the Champions League and two Serie A titles with Jose Mourinho’s Inter. He also scored one of the two goals in AC’s famous win over Barcelona last year. Here he is stealing a ref’s yellow card. Mario Ballotelli is involved, as you might expect.
Storylines
In the US, we’ll no doubt hear no end to the hex Ghana have had on us. It’ll either continue, as they certainly have the capability to hurt the US again, or it’ll be put to rest until circumstances, probably decades from now, call for the narrative to be resurrected.
The other big story that will be used to frame Ghana’s experience is their sad 2010 elimination at the hand of Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan striker, now recognized as one of the best in the world and on currently course to beat goal-scoring records in England with Liverpool, blocked a goal with his hand. He was duly red carded, and a penalty was awarded to Ghana. Gyan hit the bar, and on the sidelines Suarez celebrated wildly (he’s been a villain worldwide ever since). Uruguay went on to win the match.
It’s an injustice Ghana will be hoping to avenge in one fashion or another, and that’s just what World Cups are for.
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