The Black Stars of Ghana booked their ticket for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in spite of going down 2:1 to the Pharaohs of Egypt in the second leg final play-off in Cairo on Tuesday.
It was always going to be a daunting task for the Pharaohs after going down heavily – 6:1 - in the first leg in Kumasi, and they bow out on a 7:3 aggregate.
The Black Stars were not particularly impressive in this final showdown, but neither were the Egyptians hungry enough in front of goal, allowing back-to-base Kevin Prince-Boateng to pull a goal back for the Stars in the 89th minute after the Pharaohs went up 2:0 courtesy Amr Zaki and Gedo.
In the foul-strewn match that recorded as many as six yellow cards, (four for Ghana) it was the Egyptians who shifted straight into action from the blast of the whistle, forcing saves of Fatau Dauda under a minute.
But the Ghanaians were the first to come close to scoring after Majid Waris whipped a shot across the Egyptian goal and missed narrowly after six minutes. With the Egyptians playing a more purposeful game from their disastrous first leg display, the promise of a keenly contested game was on the cards. Visit our photo galleries for latest from Cairo.
After a ding-dong affair in midfield which was dominated by the Egyptians, Egypt broke the deadlock in the 25th minute when impressive Fatau Dauda mistimed his attempt to fist out a floated free kick, and the celebrated Amr Zaki showed his gratitude with a header that Harrison Afful almost cleared off the line.
Jerry Akaminko would pick the first of the yellow cards for a violent play after 38 minutes, and by the 40th minute Egypt had made the first of three substitutions, bringing on Gedo for Mahmoud Kahraba. A minute later Egypt were appealing for a penalty against Rashid Sumaila for a supposed foul on Mohamed Salah but were ignored. Then Daniel Opare went into the referee’s book for a foul on Hazem Emam in the 44th minute, before Fatau Dauda made a fine save of Egypt’s last effort in this half.
When the game restarted, Egypt forced and wasted a corner kick under a minute, and when Ghana fluffed a short-lived effort, the homesters brought on Hosny Rabo for Fathi and almost registered an instant result with Aboutrika turning beautifully but hitting off target just outside the 6-yard box.
Egypt were still piling the pressure, bringing on Mahmoud Abdelrazek for Zaki in the 61st minute. But Ghana once again saw an effort go closely off, with Sulley Muntari driving a free kick across goal before giving way to Agyemang Badu. But Sulley would pick a yellow card in the 73rd minute for time wasting as he virtually drags his from across the pitch to be substituted. Jerry Akaminko clears an Egypt effort off the goal line, while Wakaso is booked for foul play.
And when substitute Gedo scored in the 84th minute and followed it up with a yellow card, it was too clear the Egyptians were not going anywhere as Kevin-Prince Boateng, who had taken over from Majid Waris in the 79th minute, made a dramatic return to the Stars fold with a gusty finish to a copybook carpet pass from skipper Asamoah Gyan. He sent the ball into the roof of the Egyptian net in the 89th minute to re-ignite an unlikely Ghana resurgence.
But when Shikabala failed to beat Dauda with a close range shot in the 90th minute, the signs were too clear that the 5 minutes time added were not going to be sufficient to turn the scales, as the Black Stars danced the evening away into their third successive World Cup finals.
