Qatar World Cup Round of 32 Tour · Group H Ghana
On the evening of November 14, Beijing time, Ghana announced the 26-man squad for the Qatar World Cup, led by Thomas who plays for the Premier League leader team Arsenal, and the Ayou brothers are listed.
Team Ghana is nicknamed "Black Star".
Ghana, ranked 61st in the World Cup, is the world's lowest-ranked team in the round of 32, and none of them can make it to the top 10 in Africa.
This is Ghana's return to the World Cup for the first time in eight years. Ghana made their World Cup debut in 2006, joining the Czech Republic, Italy and the United States, and qualifying 2-1. In the 1/8 finals against defending champions Brazil, they still played offensive football in the absence of "Buffalo" Essien, and eventually lost 3-0 to the quarterfinals. Four years later, Ghana became the third African team in South Africa to advance to the last eight of the World Cup, but missed the opportunity to rewrite African football history after losing to Uruguay on penalties after a dramatic 120-minute penalty in the quarterfinals. In the 2014 World Cup, Ghana was in the same death group as the United States, Germany and Portugal, and eventually failed to qualify from the group with 1 draw and 2 defeats.
Cameroon's Faye (right) fights Ghana's Ann Ayu during a draw against Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations on June 29, 2019. Xinhua News Agency
Ghana failed to "get out of Africa" in the last World Cup qualifiers and missed the World Cup finals for the first time since 2006. Ghana finished first in the second stage of the group stage in this World Cup qualifier and eliminated Nigeria to Qatar with an away goal advantage in the final match.
Being able to reach the World Cup finals shows that Ghana's players have some strength. The most famous of the Ghanaian team is Arsenal's beast Thomas. He has made 15 league and Europa League appearances for Arsenal this season, scoring two goals.
On 20 August, Arsenal beat Bournemouth in the Premier League, and Thomas (number 5) celebrated a goal with his teammates. Xinhua News Agency
Ghana has a number of players in the backfield who have played in the five major leagues, including Leicester City's Amatai, Southampton's Salisou (who made his international debut in September), Strasbourg's Dejiku and Celta's Aidor.
The most attractive on the offensive end are the Ayu brothers. Older brother Andre Ayu currently plays for THAAD and younger brother Jordan Ayu plays for Crystal Palace, both of whom have made their mark on the Ligue 1 side of Marseille. Their father is Ghanaian legend Abdi Ayu, known as "Africa's Pele". What kind of performance the two brotherhoods will join forces to give fans in this World Cup is exciting.
On August 15, in the Premier League, Liverpool drew 1-1 at home with Crystal Palace, and Liverpool's Fabinho (right) fought with Crystal Palace's Ayu. Xinhua News Agency
At the World Cup in South Africa 12 years ago, Ghana met Uruguay in the quarter-final, and faced the red dot package sent by Suarez's "goalline handball", as long as Gian can score the penalty, Ghana will beat Uruguay to advance to the last four to make history. Unfortunately, under pressure, Gian's penalty hit the crossbar, and in the final penalty shootout, Ghana was defeated by Uruguay.
Now, instead of not getting together, the two teams meet again in the group stage, and Ghana, which is significantly inferior in strength, will find it too difficult to successfully avenge the powerful Uruguay. Speaking about this historical entanglement, captain Ayu said: "As a player, if you enter the game with a sense of revenge, you can become extremely excited and make a lot of mistakes. We just have to stay calm and try to win the game as planned, or do everything we can to move to the next stage of the tournament. ”
To qualify from the group, Ghana would have to take all three points from South Korea and then at least one point from the strong Portugal and Uruguay, which is extremely difficult for the current Ghanaian team.
Nandu reporter Tao Xinlei Intern Wu Junjie
Ghana group stage schedule
25 November 0:00 Portugal vs Ghana
28 November, 21:00 South Korea vs Ghana
2 December, 23:00 Ghana vs Uruguay