Ghana showed their experience in a very cagey game against Sudan after beating them 2-0 at the cape coast sports stadium on Thursday evening.
The black stars went into the game knowing a win against the Secretary birds will edge them a step closer to qualifying for the 2021 African cup of nations and topping Group C.
Charles Akonnor’s men started the game without spectators at the venue and had been Informed about the death of former President Jerry John Rawlings hours before the game, so a lot of Ghanaians were hoping to see how the team will react, but after a sloppy first minutes Dede Ayew, scored a 20-yard free-kick to give Ghana the lead, he scored again in the second half to give Ghana 2-0 over Sudan.
But how did we rate the individual players?
Ghana player ratings
Richard Ofori- 6.5
The Ghana number one returned into the team after missing last month’s friendly games, he was not convincing today but he made few saves.
Christopher Nettey- 8.5
After not playing a competitive game since March, the Asante Kotoko full-back got the nod to start such a huge game on his debut and Nettey never showed any rustiness and made a statement to the technical team that he can do better in subsequent call-ups.
Baba Rahman- 5.5
After been away from the team for more than a year, Baba started the game and seem to have lost a bit of touch, we didn’t see any of his trademark good runs and crosses.
John Boye- 5.5
The experienced defender gave too many balls away, and in the the first half, nearly gave a penalty away. With his stature we expected him to do more.
Alexander Djiku- 5.5
After impressing in his first two matches for the Black stars last month, Djiku was not convincing today, he couldn’t form that solid partnership with Boye and that gave the Sudanese a lot of opportunities at goal.
Afriyie Acquah- 5
The robust midfielder should’ve done more looking at the enormous experience he has with the national team but we didn’t feel his presence enough, perhaps been away for that long has affected the understanding he’s had with the team before, regardless we think he should have done more.
Emmanuel Lomotey-8
The former Black Mateors midfielder came under immense pressure after dropping a shocker against Mali last month, however, Lomotey responded to the criticisms and bossed the midfield for Ghana, he was a delight to watch and gave many incisive forward passes.
Tariqe Lamptey- 6
The new Ghana number 7 was not as exciting as he was in his last game for the Black stars, he didn’t cause any significant problems for the opposition as we expected.
Samuel Owusu- 5.5
It was reported before the game that the enterprising attacker was doubtful for the match but he somehow started the game though he did his best we believe he is the life wire of this Ghana side and didn’t do enough today.
Jordan Ayew- 6
The Crystal Palace forward held onto the ball for far too long making it difficult to break down a very well-organized side, we believe he should’ve scored from the few chances he had.
Dede Ayew- 10
What a performance that was, Dede showed his class, his quality and proved that he is the man for an occasion like this, after scoring that beautiful two goals, he was all over the place throwing in the tackles, picking the ball from deep to the opposition halfetc. This performance might probably be one of the best performance by the Ghana captain in recent years.
Caleb Ekuban – 6
Ekuban came on late in the game but still managed to create few chances and we felt he was unlucky not to have gotten a penalty.
Nicholas Opoku- 5
He came on for Nettey, and did a good job and help the team to keep a clean sheet.
Charles Akonnor- 8
Looking at the disruption to his preparations, and all the circumstances before the game and still managed to win the game, we believe CK deserves all the applause.
