Four reasons Ghana are out of the World Cup

This is the second time Ghana has failed to make it past the group stage of the World Cup.

Also, this is their second group stage exit in 8 years, dating back to 2014.

Unlike 2014, where the team was hugely affected by off-the-field issues, Ghana’s exit this time was purely affected by on-field incidents.

Here are for possible reasons Ghana are out of the World Cup

1. Tough group

Although Ghana came close to progressing from round of 16, it is undeniable that the Black Stars were in what could be described as a group of death.

Ghana headed into the tournament as the lowest-ranked team and were paired in a group with Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.

Portugal are ranked 9th, South Korea are ranked 28th, Uruguay are ranked 14th and there is Ghana, who are ranked 61st on the FIFA ranking.

Ghana picked up one win which came against South Korea and finished bottom of the group.

2. Otto Addo’s selection

Ghana made amends by beating South Korea after losing the first game against Portugal.

Otto Addo's chances of playing Tariq Lamptey and Gideon Mensah paid dividend.

But in the final game against Uruguay, we went back to Baba Rahman and Alidu Seidu as fullbacks and Ghana lost from these areas.

3. Trusting the wrong players

Otto Addo bet his fate on Partey, Rahman, Jordan and Dede and they let him down. There is no game at the World Cup that these players could look back and boast of a good performance with the exception of Jordan.

Jordan showed up with some good performance in the Ghana-Korea game but he went back to default settings when the team needed him the most.

Safe to say Otto Addo’s blind loyalty let the team down.

4. Defensive woes

Ghana had one of the worry defense at the World Cup.

Leakage at the back led to the team conceding 7 goals in five matches.

Against Portugal, the Black Stars conceded 3 goals in 15 minutes including two in two minutes.

In the second game against South Korea, Ghana conceded two goals in three minutes. Then in the final game they conceded two in six minutes.

The aforementioned fact encapsulates Ghana’s woeful defending that cost them a round-of-16 berth.

In return, they scored 5 goals, ending the tournament with a deficit of two goals.

EE/WA