Portugal 2 Ghana 1
World Cup 2014Portugal
Ghana
Ghana's John Boye, left, scores an own goal to put Portugal 1-0 up during their 2014 World Cup Group G game.2014/fifa world cup brazil
For Ghana, the abiding image at this World Cup will be the photograph of a dozen police vehicles or more, complete with flashing lights, transporting £1.7m in cash from Brasilia airport to the team hotel in the early hours of the morning. For Portugal it will be the sight of Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the pitch after missing a hat full of chances and gesturing to a man with a microphone in his hand that he had no intention of stopping for an interview on the way to the dressing room.
By the time Ronaldo walked into the post-match press conference, to collect a man-of-the-match award that could only have been more begrudgingly accepted if it was presented by Lionel Messi, he was limping and wearing a bandage around his knee. He looked fed up. He had finally scored his first goal in these World Cup finals but it had failed to arrive until 10 minutes from time and, ultimately, counted for nothing.
While Neymar and Messi, his two great rivals, have enjoyed themselves in the Brazilian sunshine, Ronaldo has been a picture of pent up frustration. It has been a miserable tournament for the World Player of the Year, summed up by the three gilt-edged opportunities that came his way in the closing stages here. All three needed to go in for Portugal to progress. But unfortunately Ronaldo failed to take any of them.
Portugal finished third, level on points with the USA but behind on goal difference, and it was easy to see where the damage was done. The 4-0 thumping at the hands of Germany in their opening game, when Pepe was sent off, was the beginning of the end. “It became a huge handicap for us,” said Paulo Bento, the Portugal coach. “It truly left scars.”
Ronaldo was clearly not 100% fit throughout, and it showed. He looked annoyed with his team-mates, which led to him describing Portugal as “an average team” after the 2-2 draw with USA that all but confirmed their elimination. But perhaps, deep down, Ronaldo was more frustrated with himself for not being able to play at the top of his game and bend matches in Portugal’s favour.
Bento, however, refused to point the blame at Portugal’s talisman. “I don’t think it’s fair to make things individual. We made a set of mistakes throughout the tournament during three different matches and that’s what penalised us,” he said. “I shall never hold any individual responsible for this. The responsibility for failing to reach our goal is my responsibility. The players tried to play the roles they had been assigned.
“Cristiano is usually really effective, but suddenly he couldn’t do it. I’m not going to deem one player responsible. We knew what was going on from the very beginning. There was a certain time he was recovering and had to do physical therapy, but when we felt he could compete we called him in. Did it effect his performance? It’s hard to say. Cristiano not being 100% fit was not the main reason for the results.”
For Ghana, the post-mortem could go on for some time. Four years after being revered for their performances in South Africa, where they came within a missed penalty of a place in the last four, the Black Stars will almost certainly return home to some severe criticism. They finished bottom of the group but what happened on the pitch is nothing compared to the farcical scenes off it.
Ghana’s players went on strike on Tuesday, when they refused to train because they had not received the appearance money they were due for taking part in the World Cup, and some serious allegations have since been made against Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sully Muntari. In a statement issued on the morning of this game – the timing felt incredible – the Ghana Football Association (GFA)claimed that Boateng traded “vulgar verbal insults” with James Appiah, the coach, while Muntari was accused of an “unprovoked physical attack” on one of the GFA’s members.
Boateng has denied the charges and Muntari has yet to comment, but the whole episode inevitably cast a shadow over this match. Poor in the first half, when they fell behind to a calamitous own goal from the wonderfully-named John Boye – whose miss-kick ended with the ball looping into the net off his knee – Ghana briefly threatened to resurrect their hopes of reaching the last 16 in the second half.
An exquisite cross from Kwadwo Asamoah, who used the outside of his boot to pick out Asamoah Gyan, ended with the Ghana captain heading home at the far post. It was his sixth World Cup goal and took him above Roger Milla as Africa’s all-time leading scorer in the tournament. Four minutes later Ghana should have had a second but Majeed Waris, from Gyan’s inviting centre, inexplicably headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
With USA losing against Germany, a 2-1 victory would have been enough to see Ghana through. But it was Portugal who struck again after more dreadful defending. Jonathan Mensah’s header from Nani’s cross looped up into the air and Fatau Dauda, who had made a superb save to deny Ronaldo in the first half, flapped at the ball.
Ronaldo drilled in the rebound but there was not a flicker of emotion from him. His profligacy in the final moments of the match did nothing to improve his general mood.
For Ghana, the abiding image at this World Cup will be the photograph of a dozen police vehicles or more, complete with flashing lights, transporting £1.7m in cash from Brasilia airport to the team hotel in the early hours of the morning. For Portugal it will be the sight of Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the pitch after missing a hat full of chances and gesturing to a man with a microphone in his hand that he had no intention of stopping for an interview on the way to the dressing room.
By the time Ronaldo walked into the post-match press conference, to collect a man-of-the-match award that could only have been more begrudgingly accepted if it was presented by Lionel Messi, he was limping and wearing a bandage around his knee. He looked fed up. He had finally scored his first goal in these World Cup finals but it had failed to arrive until 10 minutes from time and, ultimately, counted for nothing.
While Neymar and Messi, his two great rivals, have enjoyed themselves in the Brazilian sunshine, Ronaldo has been a picture of pent up frustration. It has been a miserable tournament for the World Player of the Year, summed up by the three gilt-edged opportunities that came his way in the closing stages here. All three needed to go in for Portugal to progress. But unfortunately Ronaldo failed to take any of them.
Portugal finished third, level on points with the USA but behind on goal difference, and it was easy to see where the damage was done. The 4-0 thumping at the hands of Germany in their opening game, when Pepe was sent off, was the beginning of the end. “It became a huge handicap for us,” said Paulo Bento, the Portugal coach. “It truly left scars.”
Ronaldo was clearly not 100% fit throughout, and it showed. He looked annoyed with his team-mates, which led to him describing Portugal as “an average team” after the 2-2 draw with USA that all but confirmed their elimination. But perhaps, deep down, Ronaldo was more frustrated with himself for not being able to play at the top of his game and bend matches in Portugal’s favour.
Bento, however, refused to point the blame at Portugal’s talisman. “I don’t think it’s fair to make things individual. We made a set of mistakes throughout the tournament during three different matches and that’s what penalised us,” he said. “I shall never hold any individual responsible for this. The responsibility for failing to reach our goal is my responsibility. The players tried to play the roles they had been assigned.
“Cristiano is usually really effective, but suddenly he couldn’t do it. I’m not going to deem one player responsible. We knew what was going on from the very beginning. There was a certain time he was recovering and had to do physical therapy, but when we felt he could compete we called him in. Did it effect his performance? It’s hard to say. Cristiano not being 100% fit was not the main reason for the results.”
For Ghana, the post-mortem could go on for some time. Four years after being revered for their performances in South Africa, where they came within a missed penalty of a place in the last four, the Black Stars will almost certainly return home to some severe criticism. They finished bottom of the group but what happened on the pitch is nothing compared to the farcical scenes off it.
Ghana’s players went on strike on Tuesday, when they refused to train because they had not received the appearance money they were due for taking part in the World Cup, and some serious allegations have since been made against Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sully Muntari. In a statement issued on the morning of this game – the timing felt incredible – the Ghana Football Association (GFA)claimed that Boateng traded “vulgar verbal insults” with James Appiah, the coach, while Muntari was accused of an “unprovoked physical attack” on one of the GFA’s members.
Boateng has denied the charges and Muntari has yet to comment, but the whole episode inevitably cast a shadow over this match. Poor in the first half, when they fell behind to a calamitous own goal from the wonderfully-named John Boye – whose miss-kick ended with the ball looping into the net off his knee – Ghana briefly threatened to resurrect their hopes of reaching the last 16 in the second half.
An exquisite cross from Kwadwo Asamoah, who used the outside of his boot to pick out Asamoah Gyan, ended with the Ghana captain heading home at the far post. It was his sixth World Cup goal and took him above Roger Milla as Africa’s all-time leading scorer in the tournament. Four minutes later Ghana should have had a second but Majeed Waris, from Gyan’s inviting centre, inexplicably headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
With USA losing against Germany, a 2-1 victory would have been enough to see Ghana through. But it was Portugal who struck again after more dreadful defending. Jonathan Mensah’s header from Nani’s cross looped up into the air and Fatau Dauda, who had made a superb save to deny Ronaldo in the first half, flapped at the ball.
Ronaldo drilled in the rebound but there was not a flicker of emotion from him. His profligacy in the final moments of the match did nothing to improve his general mood.
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