Otto Addo to lead Ghana to World Cup
Asamoah Gyan eyes ‘last dance’ at World Cup
Kwadwo Twum Boafo, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zone Board, has opined that the Black Stars have 'nothing to revenge' against Uruguay when the two meet at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Twum-Boafo argues that despite Luis Suarez saving what could been Ghana's extra-time winner in the 2010 World Cup, the Black Stars fluffed the opportunity to score the resulting penalty to win the tie.
In an interview with GhanaWeb, he advised the Black Stars to head into the match against Uruguay without a thought of revenge.
“What is the revenge element in it? There is nothing to revenge. We shouldn’t go into that match angry. There is nothing to be angry about because we had a chance. If we had taken that penalty, who knows what could have happened. The qualification was on Asamoah Gyan’s foot. The basis for motivation going into World Cup is that we came from a long way to qualify,” he said.
He continued by mentioning in-form Benfica striker, Darwin Nunez, as the player to keep an eye on in the Uruguay team instead of focusing on revenge.
“Uruguay have a star in the team called Nunez. He played for Benfica and he is an outstanding player. We need to be very prepared. I’m worried about this thing that we are having that it’s revenge time."
Analyzing the strength of Ghana’s three opponents, Twum Boafo observed that the Portuguese team is a blend of youthful players plying their trade with top clubs and players with decades of experience in the game.
For South Korea, Twum Boafo opines that Ghana could be in for a shock if they underrate the Asians.
“I think our draw could have been better. I don’t think it's as good as some people are saying. For example, many of you in the sports fraternity have written off South Korea but I think it’s a mistake because Son Heung Min is probably the best auxiliary striker in the Premier League. He is second behind Salah in terms of goals this season. He is fast and good with his head. He has a whole repertoire. I don’t know why we are writing off South Korea."
“For Portugal, they have Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandez, Jota, even Joao Felix is on the bench. In defence, they have Ruben Diaz, Jose Fonte, Bernardo in midfield, and Renato Sanchez. They have an outstanding amount of players. Unless we catch them on a bad day, Portugal will be a difficult task,” he said.
In 2010, Ghana became the third African nation to reach the quarter-final of the World Cup when they faced Uruguay.
During the game, Sulley Muntari gave the Black Stars the lead with a stunning strike from distance in the first half. Diego Forlan pulled the South Americans level in the second half as the game headed into extra time.
With a few minutes to end the extra-time, Ghana was handed a penalty after the hidden goalkeeping skills of Lusi Suarez came to bare as he palm away Dominic Adiyiah's goal-bound header.
Asamoah Gyan stepped up and hit it straight to the crossbar. Ghana eventually lost 4-2 on penalties.
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former CEO of the Ghana Free Zone Board, Kwadwo Twum Boafo