To many Ghanaians, the Black Stars' qualification to the knockout phase of the 2006 FIFA World Cup was worth celebrating despite the embarrassing defeat to Brazil in the round of 16 tie.
The Black Stars after beating the USA in their last group game to book their place in the knockout phase but Ghana's hopes of excelling beyond expectations in their maiden World Cup tournament were crashed by record winners Brazil.
Ronaldo, Adriano and Ze Roberto scored as the Brazilians ended Ghana campaign with a 3-0 score line at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany on June 27, 2022.
Reflecting on the game after 16 years, Sulley Muntari stated that the excitement about getting to the knockout phase might have affected them in the game against Brazil.
"It was the excitement because we were playing in the World Cup for the first time and looking at how we started our first game by losing to Italy, we were happy to have reached the knockout phase."
"I think that affected us in the Brazil game because we were even excited to make Ghanaians proud by qualifying out of the group," Sulley Muntari told Kwabena Yeboah in an interview on GTV Sports+.
The Brazilians after beating Ghana were eliminated by the French led by Zinédine Zidane in the quarter-finals.
Watch Sulley Muntari's narration in the post below from the 7th minute:
