WCC sent me on a no expenses paid trip to Milton Keynes to see Ghana’s final World Cup warm-up against Latvia. Prior to this game, Ghana had been beaten 4-1 by Holland, so it was important to put in a decent showing against a lesser team. Latvia are no international lightweights (they finished third in their World Cup 2010 qualifying group behind Switzerland and Greece) but Ghana needed to beat a team of this stature to indicate that they have any chance of making it into the knock-out rounds in South Africa. Ghana have been drawn in a tough group (Group D) with Germany, Australia and Serbia – there is no makeweight amongst this quartet. If they make it out of their group, Ghana could face England in the second round.
Ghana performed well against Latvia. They are solid where they need to be, and skilful where they need to be, looking very dangerous on the break. Whilst they dominated the game, they did lack a little cutting edge in the final third. They could have scored several in the first-half but lacked composure in front of goal, although an Asamoah Gyan effort did strike the bar. The game became less coherent in the second-half following substitutions, but Ghana won late in the game when Quincy Owusu-Abeyie made space for himself to strike a long-range shot – it should have been saved by the Latvian keeper but found the net. Ghana could well make it out of Group D, but will need to be more clinical in South Africa. [I've summarised the team performance below.]
Defence
Apart from goalkeeper Daniel Adjei (who flapped horribly at one cross) the defence looked very secure. Samuel Inkoom is a dangerous and skilful right-back, whilst his counterpart on the left, Lee Addy also looked secure. Inkoom seems to offer a bit more fizz than Addy, but did seem to have greater license to advance. The centre-backs looked strong but also tidy on the ball, with Isaac Vorsah particularly commanding.
Midfield
Ghana played a 4-2-3-1 for the majority of the game with Anthony Annan and Kevin-Prince Boateng anchoring the midfield. They both performed well, Annan’s tenacity and snappiness complementing Boateng’s composure and clever use of the ball. In front of this pair, Kwadwo Asamoah took up playmaking duties. He played one lovely through-ball to Prince Tagoe which enabled the winger to advance into the 18-yard box. Asamoah also looked sharp on the break, making space to strike a curling shot on another occasion. He sits fairly deep to pick out assertive passes and does not often move forward to join Gyan in attack. The two wide players, Andre Ayew and Prince Tagoe looked very skilful and could trouble full-backs in South Africa, but their crossing was far from pinpoint. Ayew looked particularly tricky, beating opponents on several occasions.
Forwards
Asamoah Gyan played as lone forward and performed ably. He was unlucky in the first-half when his shot hit the underside of the crossbar then landed on the goal-line. He also looked quick and powerful on the break, and like Asamoah, shot wide having evaded the Latvian defence outside the box. Dominic Adiyiah replaced Gyan in the second-half but made little impression. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie scored the winner and showed good pace following his introduction, although his runs in from the right flank were usually overambitious. However, he could be a useful impact substitute at World Cup 2010.