Evil Vince Photography

It took one hundred twenty minutes to complete this match, and the
Americans conceded goals in the beginning of the game, and the
beginning of extra-time. Five minutes into the game Kevin Prince
Boateng [5'] buried a chance after the ball was poorly given away in
midfield by Ricardo Clark. Boateng sprinted into the penalty area
and left footed a shot right past goalkeeper Tim Howard. Everyone
supporting the United States was in disbelief by going down to an
early goal again. The Americans could not get much on the counter-
attack, and in fact, looked weak in midfield and could not control
much of the quality possession. US Coach Bob Bradley made a change
in the thirtieth minute, pulling Ricardo Clark for the more physical
Maurice Edu, who should have been in the starting eleven at the
opening whistle. Clark had been very loose in midfield, and looked
tentative for his half hour, Edu was a welcome change. Halftime
arrived with the score still in favor of the Black Stars, with the Stars
and Stripes scratching their heads in bewilderment. The second act
started with another switch for the Americans featuring Benny Feilhaber
in lieu of Robbie Findley, who was uninspired with his first touch on
the front lines. The first touch of the ball is where one can visualize
the true skill and quality of a player. The change for the US almost
netted a goal in the first minutes of the second half, by goalkeeper
Richard Kingson made one of his best saves of the evening on Feilhaber.
The Americans continued to carry the tempo of the match, but could
not be inspired to beat the Ghanian defense. Finally, around the hour
mark, Clint Dempsey’s hard work finally paid off, when he earned a
penalty, after being fouled in the area by defender Jonathan Mensah.
Landon Donovan [62' PEN] cooly placed the penalty kick off the low
post, and the Americans were equal. The surge by the US was visual
and they continued to have the majority of the scoring chances, but
Kingson continued to shine in goal for the Black Stars. The Americans
seemed a little deflated as regulation ended, and carried that lack of
enthusiasm into extra-time. Once again, the Americans conceded an
early goal at the start, as a wonderful long ball from Andre Ayew to
Asamoah Gyan [93'] ended the hopes of the US. It was an amazing
pass, that found Gyan between two American defenders. Gyan touched
the ball off his chest, he took a couple strides and buried a left footer
behind Tim Howard. It was a quality goal indeed, but lackadaisical
defending contributed to the play as well. The USA became visually
deflated, and their hopes of a late winner were gone, they now needed
a late equalizer. The match ended with me feeling sad that the
Americans were out, but overjoyed with the thought of Ghana in the
quarter-finals. The Black Stars are the last team from Africa in the
World Cup, and I hope they defeat the very formidable Uruguayan side.
The Americans played to their ability, but probably could have played a
little better. They have nothing to hang their heads about, the USA
played a good World Cup. With that said, Ghana has played better.

USA 1 : 2 Ghana
[0:1]

man of the match
Andre Ayew