Ghana: World Cup’s great entertainers

The game against Germany tonight might have yielded two less points than Ghana had actually wished for, yet the West Africans - as disappointing as they had been against the USA in their group opener - couldn't have made a more deafening statement of intent.

Ghana took the game to Germany early, only to fall behind to a Mario Gotze finish from Thomas Muller's cross. Anyone who expected a drubbing were let down, though, as Ghana struck back with one of their own.

A lofted ball from Harrison Afful -the Esperance full-back proving a definite, more appealling upgrade on the benched Daniel Opare- on the right, saw Andre 'Dede' Ayew grab his second goal at the tournament.

Asamoah Gyan then looked to have scored the winner upon receiving Sulley Muntari's perfect lay-off, which saw him become the joint-highest scoring African in World Cup history alongside Roger Milla on five goals.

But they were soon pegged back by Miroslav Klose's 15th World Cup strike, which produced another piece of footballing history, as he level with record-holder Ronaldo.

The likes of Afful, Boateng (before he was taken off), and goalkeeper Fatau Dauda -the only additions to the line-up that started against the Americans- all justified their inclusions.

Dede showed again just why he is the side's most natural leader, Muntari's experience shone through, Kwadwo Asamoah did little to convince coach Kwesi Appiah that he isn't the man to play at left-back, and even the central defensive pairing of John Boye and Jonathan Mensah were much improved from the defeat to the USA.

Of course, none of those glowing individual contributions could sway the tie Ghana's way. The 2-2 draw sees the Stars remain in third place above pointless Portugal.

Draw or not, Ghanaians still cling to their license to dream. They haven't lost it yet.