A thriller it was indeed, when the Black Starlets of Ghana last Saturday removed the shadow of Uruguay from the World U-17 football championship in New Zealand with a sensational sudden death goal at the McLean Park in Napier. Reduced to 10 from the 17th minute of the first half, the Starlets fought from a goal down before taking a 2-1 lead at half time in a fierce encounter, drenched in rain. Uruguay also had their captain sent off in extra time.
The quarter-final job accomplished with hard labour, the Starlets were air-borne within hours for Auckland, a two-hour flight away, for the semi-final stage of a struggle which they hope would earn them yet another honour at the world stage of juvenile football. With the two-time world champions, Ghana, and the South American contenders (for whom it was the second appearance at the U-17 World Cup finals) deadlocked at full time at 2-2, it was Ishmael Addo?s sudden death goal, scrambled from goal-mouth, 18 minutes into extra time which shattered the Uruguayan resistance and propelled Ghana into medal zone for the fifth consecutive time. Conscious of their double history as the only team on earth to have won the tournament twice and also to have played in all the four grand finals to date, the Starlets braved into Saturday?s quarter-finals with a clear vision of the mission ahead. And they tackled it with all the power and enthusiasm imaginable. From Group A, where Uruguay showed their dread by drawing 1-1 with Poland, whipping New Zealand 5-0 and losing 0-1 to the United States of America, their skipper Horatio Peralta, was also advertised as one of the most dangerous customers for any defence to be wary of.
So strong was the Uruguay challenge, and pure their skills, that even when stunned by an 0-1 loss to the US, unconvinced New Zealand fans attributed it to a deliberate act by the South Americans to move down to the Group B base of Napier, where they camped and trained for 10 days before the competition began. And it had been suggested by the local media that somehow, the Starlets? success in last Saturday?s show would be measured by the degree to which Peralta is held in check. All these constituted a huge publicity for the match, pulling the biggest crowd yet to the Napier matches. It also must have pumped the adrenaline in Ghana?s Michael Essien, the man whose stopper role makes him the obvious candidate, to reserve his proudest day for the gifted Uruguayan.
In the hours leading to kick-off, it was learnt that the Starlets did not only have Peralta to worry about but also the weather, when temperatures dropped to a freezing low and the rain came pouring in buckets. A fan had joked to the Starlets, earlier on their arrival here that in New Zealand, one can experience four seasons in a day. But while others like Burkina Faso had been struggling, at times in snow, at other times in rainstorm, Ghana had the unique blessing of playing all their three group matches in perfect Ghanaian weather of bright sunshine and light humidity and scoring a total of 12 goals, while conceding two against Spain, Mexico and Thailand. Even in the biting cold and wet conditions, the drama did not take long to unfold. Peralta did the expected, urging his side on the offensive, confirming his threat twice before the game was five minutes old and allowing no breather for the Starlets to warm themselves into it. That early, the character of the match was to be defined by the pace of the Uruguayan. Twice, he got checked in the Ghanaian ?18? and twice he pleaded for penalty as he also practised the act of throwing himself down when in difficulties.
The Starlets had not completely repelled the early Uruguayan aggression when only eight minutes in the game, Peralta?s partner in attack, Ruben Oliviera surprised Ghanaian goalkeeper Owusu Banahene, with a long volley. The clever lob beat Banahene, whose attempt to spring up was undermined by the muddy turf to open the scores for the South Americans. Ghana was to suffer another setback nine minutes later when defender Lawrence Kainyah, was shown the red card for sliding Sebastian Alvarez and from then, some harsh decisions by Mexican referee Edgar Rangel Perez did not only rub on Ghanaian nerves. They also earned for the Starlets tremendous sympathy from the crowd, who reacted with the deafening chorus ? FIFA, Fair Play, FIFA, Fair Play! From his seat at the VIP stand, Ghana Football Association General Secretary, Mr Worlanyo Agra, stormed out with all his bulk, to scream out to the fourth referee and match commissioner, his protest against the referee?s handling of the match. The scene created by Agra as well as persistent boos to actions earlier taken: Kainya?s red card, a yellow to Ishmael Addo, a corner against Banahene when the goalkeeper had the ball well within the playing area and a dubious off-side against Nathaniel Lamptey when the Ghanaian was covered by two Uruguayan defenders, seemed to have had the desired effect on referee Perez.
As the rain kept pouring, so did the action increase in tempo, a fine blend of flair and guts, swinging play from one end of the field to the other, with a group of Ghanaians, Ethiopians, Ugandans and South Africans, leading the Starlets chorus to celebrate football in an electrifying atmosphere.
At that breathtaking pace of soccer, the elegant play of Michael Essien was in full glow, the militancy with which he robbed opponents of the ball and the precision with which he fed long passes to other colleagues, was such an inspiration to the Ghanaian defence their numerical disadvantage was hard to notice. Defender Ibrahim Razak was the other player at the rear who surged in the effort to keep the fight at the uruguayan end. In the 22nd minute, he placed the ball intelligently in the path of Dong-Bortey but the striker?s left-footed blast narrowly missed the upright. Dong Bortey?s striking partner, Ishmael Addo had a similar chance to level for the Starlets, but, in the slippery circumstance, got entangled with the ball in his legs for Alvaro Meneses to make a late clearance. With two great chances gone wasted for Ghana, Uruguay earned another motivation to attack. This time, Alvarez?s pass to Oliviera was intercepted by Essien. A swift Ghanaian counter saw Ishmael Addo racing through two Uruguayan defenders to fire the Starlets? equalizer past keeper Martin Silva.
The stadium was to explode again just at half time when under intense pressure from Dong-Bortey, a desperate Uruguayan defender, Alvaro blocked the ball with his sheen and agonisingly looked on as it beat his own goalkeeper for the Starlets to take a 2-1 lead into half-time.
From recess, Ghana still looked the stronger side, the numerical disadvantage notwithstanding but Ibrahim Attiku, Dong-Bortey and Ishmael Addo, failed to find the net as the defence struggled to hold the charged Uruguayan attack.
When Uruguay countered, they were narrowly denied by Anthony Obodai who had pulled back to assist in defence, scooping out Oliviera?s header from a corner kick, just on the goalline. Barely two minutes after that narrow escape, the Starlets were not second time lucky when substitute Sergio Leal broke loose to bring Uruguay back into contention with a 2-2 full time score.
A string of near Ghanaian misses in the remaining minutes, coasted the tough match into extra time during which Uruguay?s skipper and danger man Peralta earned the red card for a foul on Starlets? Lamptey. And three minutes into the second half of extra time, Ishmael Addo broke the deadlock, taking advantage of a pass from Dong-Bortey and moving to the top of the goal king chat with his fifth goal of the tournament.
In his assigned role of keeping Peralta in check and stripping him of proclaimed terror, Michael Essien looked elegant and, as the rain poured in the first half torrents, each contact with the ball a moment of grace for the game.
B quarter final:
Ghana 3 - Addo 36 108, Dong-bortey 45
Uruguay 2 - Olivera 7, Leal 66
Halftime: 2-1
A quarter final:
United States 3 - Beasley 38, Cila 43, Beckerman 48
Mexico 2 - Vallejo 3, Yanez 70
Halftime: 2-1; Attendance: 7,483
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Sunday, November 21
C-Australia v Qatar
D-Paraguay v Brazil
Semifinals: Wednesday, November 24
E-United States v Winner C
F-Ghana v Winner D
Third place play-off: Saturday, November 27
Loser E v Loser F
Final: Saturday, November 27
Winner E v Winner F
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