Andre Dede Ayew powered home a gliding header which will be the envy of many a world class player
Ghana's Black Stars earned maximum respect at the ongoing Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup after forcing a gruelling 2-2 draw against three-time champions Germany at Arenas Castelao in Fortaleza last Saturday to throw Group G wide open.
Coach Kwasi Appiah and his boys left the 62,000 capacity stadium with high shoulders but still need to beat Portugal at Brasilia next Thursday to fancy their second round chances.
The Stars stormed the pitch with an upset on their minds to stay in contention and succeeded in fascinating the Germans with a great game which forced two great saves out of Manuel Neuer in a barren first half.
With skipper Philip Lahm lubricating the German machine deep in midfield, they still found penetration difficult against Rabiu Mohammed and Sulley Muntari until their noisy fans found their voices six minutes from recess courtesy a John Boye mishap.
Much against the run of play, Boye missed a deep aerial cross from the right which hard-running Mark Goatze scrambled home to increase his tally to four.
The roar which greeted the goal had hardly died down when Andre Dede Ayew powered home a gliding header which will be the envy of many a world class player after 54 minutes.
With his back against his markers, Marseille midfielder typically soared high with grace to connect Harrison Afful's cross beyond Neuer.
The goal suddenly pricked the Ghanaians who shot ahead almost immediately with a great strike in the 63rd minute after pouncing on a delicate Muntari pass in the heart of the German defence.
Still clueless in breaking down the resolute Ghanaian defence after 69 minutes, Coach Joachim Loew benefited from rapid substitutes Bastian Schweinsteiger and veteran Miloslav Klose when the 'headmaster' finished off a Benedikt Hoewedes header from close range two minutes later.
With defeat staring him in the face, Kwasi Appiah quickly brought on Wakaso Mubarak and Emmanuel Agyemang Badu for fading Christian Atsu and Rabiu Mohammed just before Kwadwo Asamoah and Jonathan Mensah rescued Ghana from the jaws of defeat in the 84th and 86th minutes respectively.
In keeping to the exciting pattern of play, the Stars again had a great chance to kill the game but Jordan, who had earlier replaced Kevin-Prince Boateng, broke loose on the left and selfishly shot feebly into the waiting hands of Neuer, with Gyan completely unmarked.
But the action-packed game was still not over as Gyan and Klose missed narrowly late in the game before Muntari picked a yellow card injury time which ruled him out of the Portugal game.
fonte: http://www.graphic.com.gh/
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