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Classy Satellites stun Portugal, face Chile in quarter-finals

A magnificent piece of marksmanship by Italy-based striker, Richmond Boakye-Yiadom, who delivered an 89th minute freekick, handed Ghana’s Black Satellites a famous 3-2 victory over Portugal and a quarter-final berth at the ongoing 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in a thrilling encounter at the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri yesterday.

The victory set up an interesting quarter-final clash with Chile, who defeated Croatia 2-0 in another keenly contested game in Bursa.

The dramatic late match winner summed up a brilliant afternoon of enthralling goalscoring prowess by the two sides, as Portugal’s Tiago Ferreira, Edgar IE and Kennedy Ashia shared in that delightful moments as the Ghanaians resisted the assertive influence of Portugal in the second half.

For Ashia, who had remained obscure in the Satellites campaign from the Africa Youth Championship to the World Youth Championship in Turkey,  yesterday’s game provided a perfect moment to underline his marksmanship credentials and perhaps as the man who holds the key to the dreams of the Ghanaian side.

It did not take long for the full force of the Portuguese to manifest in the game, and once again it was their scoring sensation, Bruma, who nearly made the Satellites concede an early goal, but Aladjie, standing unmarked in front of an empty net with only goalkeeper Eric Antwi to beat, incredibly shot over the crossbar under a minute of football action. Bruma continued to unsettle the Ghanaians as the Portuguese earned two cornerkicks which were all wasted in the early minutes of the game.

Coach Edgar Borges’ side remained a clear and present danger as they bombarded the Ghana defence with sustained attack which saw goalkeeper Antwi stretching to deny Jao Marioa a goal in the 11th minute.

The Satellites reacted forcefully with quick counter-attacks, one of which saw Moses Odjer unleashing a swerving shot which Jose Sa heroically parried to corner in the 13th minute, the first clearest goal attempt by Ghana.

Sellas Tetteh’s charges recovered from the early storm and Moses Odjer, Ebenezer Assifuah and Frank Acheampong set the Satellites midfield machine into motion and in the 18th minute they were rewarded when Ashia, after latching on to a free ball, fired a long-range thunderbolt which beat goalkeeper Sa.

Six minutes later, centre-back Baba Abdul Raman missed the post by inches, but moments later the action swung to the other half as Ricardo forced the best out of goalkeeper Antwi, who plucked the goal-bound ball from a marauding Portuguese onslaught.

The Amidaus Professionals shot-stopper, who has sustained the Ghanaian side so far in the tournament with heroic goalkeeping again denied the Portuguese the equaliser barely six minutes after the resumption of the second half.

But the Portuguese onslaught could not be halted after sloppiness at the Satellites rear and Tiago reacted brilliantly to pull off a deserved equaliser in the 71st minute. The game, thereafter, burst into an attacking frenzy, with the Portuguese proving more effective in the exchanges as Edgar fired them ahead with a textbook header in the 73rd minute which left Antwi stranded in the posts.

With two quick goals conceded within a three-minute spell and defeat starring at the Satellites, the technical bench made an important change with Boakye-Yiadom replacing Ashia in the 75th minute. Ghana’s substitutions proved a masterstroke by Coach Tetteh as two of his second half substitutes eventually turned the game around and put Portugal to the sword.

Michael Anaba, who came on for hardworking Odjer six minutes into the second half, stabbed home in the six-yard box after Boakye-Yiadom’s shot was parried into play for the prowling Anaba to bring Ghana on level terms in the 79th minute.

And barely five minutes of regulation time remaining, the match took another dramatic twist as Boakye-Yiadom drilled a free-kick from an almost impossible position through a two-man Portugal wall past goalkeeper Sa for the match winner to send the 2009 World Youth Champions to the next round.

By Andy Quao, Istanbul, Turkey

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