CZECH REPUBLIC 0-2 GHANA

17 June 2006

Finally one of the newcomers at this FIFA World Cup™ were able to celebrate a victory as Ghana made history by beating the Czech Republic 2-0 in Cologne on Saturday, 17 June 2006.

Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari scored the goals that gave Ghana their first win on the world stage at the expense of a Czech side who played the closing stages with ten men after Tomas Ujfalusi's dismissal.

Ghana's triumph is the first for any of the debutants at Germany 2006 and also the first for any of the five African finalists. Their victory margin might have been greater had Gyan not struck a penalty against the post in the second half.

Gyan had earlier opened the scoring in the second minute before Sulley Muntari confirmed their success seven minutes from time. However, bookings here mean both scorers, together with Tomas Lokvenc and the dismissed Ujfalusi from the Czech team, will be suspended for their next matches.

The match:
2': Ghana got off to a fantastic start, scoring the earliest goal so far at Germany 2006. With just 70 seconds played a fine ball from captain Stephen Appiah picked out Gyan who took it under control beautifully on his chest and cracked home a low shot from just inside the penalty area.

3' Back came the Black Stars hungry for more and Matthew Amoah struck an effort wide from the edge of the penalty area after capitalising on slack marking in the Czech defence.

4': The Czechs sought a swift response but defender Marek Jankulovski, up supporting the attack, sent a low shot well off target from the edge of the box.

14': Far from overawed by playing a side ranked 46 places above them in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, Ghana went looking for a second and Appiah was close with a drive from 22 yards.

26': Ghana were continuing to cause problems for the Czechs and from a free-kick into his own penalty area, David Rozehnal sliced the ball over his own crossbar when attempting to clear.

29': Karel Poborsky – the only home-based player in the Czech team – had a clear chance to shoot inside the box but pulled a low effort wide of Richard Kingson's right-hand post.

34': There was a rare moment of concern for the Ghanaians as the ball fell to Tomas Rosicky, but his low shot was quickly charged down.

39': The game was being played at a fierce pace and Ghana created another chance with Appiah inches away with a low drive from the edge of the penalty area.

Ghana keep going:
46': In the opening seconds of the second half the Czechs thought they had found a way back into the game when Nedved headed in, but both he and Vratislav Lokvenc were offside the ball came in.

51': From a low goal-kick by Kingson, Gyan took control and ran straight at the heart of the defence, bringing a full-length save from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech – a clear sign that Ghana intended to carry on taking the game to their opponents.

56': A sweeping move brought the Czechs a chance of an equaliser, but Jaroslav Plasil shot well over from a narrowing angle when picked out deep inside the Ghana box.

65': Ghana swept forward into the Czech box where Amoah was brought down by Ujfalusi at the price of a penalty. Gyan stepped up to stroke the ball home, but referee Horacio Elizondo was busy showing the red card to the defender. He subsequently showed a yellow card to Gyan for taking the kick prematurely.

67': Gyan finally took the penalty but struck it against Cech's left-hand post.

73': Another great chance fell the way of Ghana, but Michael Essien delayed his shot a fraction and hit Cech with a low drive.

74': There was still a healthy pace to a really open game and Ghana were forced to defend, but not for long as they swept forward and twice in less than a minute Essien failed to covert eminently scoreable chances.

82‘: Finally a second goal did arrive as Gyan linked well with Muntari who blasted an unstoppable left-footed drive past Cech from 12 yards.

90': Two fine saves from Kingson deep in injury time prevented Libor Sionko and Jan Polak from scoring and set off wonderful celebrations in Cologne.

In conclusion:
Ghana's historic win gives them genuine hope of qualifying for the second round. In their final group game they will play the USA, while the Czechs – disappointing today without strikers Jan Koller and Milan Baros – will hope for better in their showdown with Italy in Hamburg.