It’s something of a surprise to see
Ghana as marginal outsiders for this match with most bookmakers,
especially as they should have finished top of Group D after missing
two glorious chances to score against Germany on Wednesday night.
Milovan Rajevac’s team will be flying
the flag for Africa on Saturday night and they seem like a powerful
and energetic team that are hard to break down, especially with the
excellent John Mensah in defence. The only criticism is that the team
are a little short of attacking quality, with too much reliance
placed on the shoulders of Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan.
The USA left it late to book their
place in the last sixteen, with the inspirational Landon Donovan
striking late to beat Algeria and help his team top Group C. However,
England and Slovenia demonstrated that Bob Bradley’s team don’t
have the strongest of defences and Jozy Altidore is physical but not
prolific in front of goal.
Considering Ghana will be well
supported, they should avoid defeat in ninety minutes and might just
edge the match.
PREDICTION:
GHANA +0 ON ASIAN HANDICAP @ 2.02 with bet365
Power Rating
Squad (3/5)
A solid, reliable unit with no great weaknesses but then again no great strengths either. It is, however, a squad that cannot cope with too many injuries.
Squad (3/5)
It is better than any other African side. Ghana can field a very strong first team, albeit one that is weak in attack but it is susceptible to injury, especially to its midfield powerhouse.
Coach (3/5)
Bradley has done as much and possibly more than Klinsmann would have achieved. He is quietly unflappable, a quality that will be much needed in the heat of battle in South Africa.
Coach (2.5/5)
There are many followers of African football who feel the federation could have done a lot better than someone whose main level of expertise was qualifying minor Serb sides for the Uefa Cup.
Attack (3/5)
If Landon Donovan has a good tournament, it could be a formidable unit but Bradley would hope Altidore has more success in front of goal for the United States than for his club sides.
Attack (2/5)
A lot of Ghana’s play is reliant on breaks from midfield and Matthew Amoah is not quite good enough to shoulder the whole burden alone. The early rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations were not encouraging.
Defence (3/5)
Tim Howard can probably claim to be the best keeper in the group and they played as a solid unit in the Confederations Cup before the Brazilians took them apart in the later stages of the final.
Defence (3.5/5)
One Rajevac’s real achievements has been to tighten up and toughen up the Ghana back-four and the midfielders who play in front of them. As the Czech Republic and the United States discovered, once Ghana are in front they are hard to peg back.