Red cards on red-letter day for Ghana

17 June 2006

THE DAY REPLAYED: Three European teams played today but only Portugal took three points, as the Czech Republic fell 2-0 to Ghana and ten-man Italy drew 1-1 with nine-man USA. Ghana, meanwhile, stepped up to represent their continent, scoring the fastest goal of Germany 2006 and notching the first victory for an African side in their win over the Czechs.

The results leave Portugal on top of Group D and qualified for the round of 16 with the maximum six points, while Iran are pointless and eliminated after two matches. Group E is more complicated, with all four teams still alive: Italy sit top with four points, followed by the Czech Republic and Ghana each with three, and the US with one.

Moment of the day
Ghana earn the first win for Africa
The day began with the African teams in the tournament all winless, Tunisia and Angola each having earned a point and Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo all having experienced only defeat. But Ghana changed that statistic with their impressive performance against a Czech Republic team that had become fancied after their 3-0 thumping of the US.

Goal of the day
Sulley Muntari: Ghana 2-0
With the Czechs pushed forward looking for a late equaliser and goalkeeper Petr Cech having looked unbeatable in the second half, Sulley Muntari finally sealed the win for Ghana in the 82nd minute. Asamoah Gyan kept himself just barely onside to receive the ball deep up the right and played a give-and-go before finding Muntari in space in front of goal. Ghana had failed to convert a number of wonderful opportunities – including a missed penalty – but Muntari made no mistake as he slammed his shot into the back of the net.

The flurry of second-half opportunities were made possible in large part because of an extraordinarily quick start. After failing to score in their 2-0 defeat by Italy, Ghana needed less than 90 seconds to open their account against the Czechs. Stephen Appiah picked out Gyan at the top of the penalty area, and the Modena forward brought it down with his chest and finished clinically inside the Cech's left-hand post.

For the Czechs, the absence of injured strikers Jan Koller and Milan Baros was only too apparent and coach Karel Bruckner's concerns will have been compounded by a booking for Koller's deputy, Vratislav Lokvenc. This leaves him yet another striker short for the showdown with Italy.

While the Czechs were going down 2-0, it was the same score but a different story in Portugal's meeting with Iran. Their only goal against Angola had come in just the fourth minute but Portugal played over two hours of FIFA World Cup™ football before finding the net again in the 63rd minute against Iran – but it was worth the wait as Luis Figo’s square pass found Deco in space at the top of the penalty arc and the Barcelona man drove a powerful shot inside the left post. On the second goal, Figo had a hand in the action again, this time earning a penalty courtesy of Iranian defender Yahya Golmohammadi. Cristiano Ronaldo was trusted to finish matters from the penalty spot, and he did not disappoint.

In the final game of the night, an eventful first half saw two goals and two expulsions. Both goals came from set-pieces and both were scored by Italy, though one went into their own net, with Cristian Zaccardo’s 27th-minute own goal cancelling out Alberto Gilardino's 22nd-minute header.

But the story before the interval was the two red cards. The first was shown to Daniel De Rossi in the 22nd minute for an elbow to the face of Brian McBride, the second to Pablo Mastroeni for a two-footed tackle into the ankle of Andrea Pirlo. That theme continued in the opening minutes of the second half as veteran centre-back Eddie Pope drew his second booking for a tackle from behind. Now playing nine-on-ten, the US somehow managed to keep the score even despite heavy pressure from the Italians over the final ten minutes.

Player of the day
Deco leads the way for Portugal
The only European side that did not disappoint today were Portugal, who had impressive contributions from several players, none more so than Deco, who was the centre-piece of their attack and the scorer of a fantastic goal at a time when his team was surely getting frustrated with their inability to put the ball in the net.