South Africa v Ghana: Five things we learnt from the game

Published on: 06 September 2021

South Africa defied the odds to beat Ghana 1-0 at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg in the second FIFA World Cup qualifications match on Monday to topple Group G.

Hugo Broos recorded his first victory as head of the Bafana Bafana since he took over the team.

In a game that lacked chances, Hlongwane came close to getting the opener for the home side as his attempted acrobatic effort in the 68th minute missed the posts by a whisker.

South Africa finally got the breakthrough seven minutes from full-time after the Ghana defence failed to deal with a cross from the right.

Hlongwane took advantage of the lose ball to beat substitute goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi.

Decent debut for Fatawu Mohammed 

The Hearts of Oak captain was playing his first game for the Black Stars after earning a late call up from coach Charles Kwbalan Akonnor. Fatawu was defensively solid but could not offer plenty in attack. He enjoyed 90 minutes of action but could not stop the team from losing.

Rusty Richard Ofori 

The Orlando Pirates goalkeeper looked a pale shadow of himself, making elementary mistakes. He could have conceded more than a goal before his substitution due to an injury. He struggled to grab ball and in one incident let the ball slip through his legs but was lucky the South African striker failed to direct the ball.

Star players missed

Ghana traveled to South Africa without seven key players. Jordan Ayew, Daniel Amartey, Andy Yiadom, Baba Rahman and Kamaldeen Sulemana, who were all starters in the game against Ethiopia did not travel to Johannesburg. Their absence was massively felt as C.K relied on his second team.

No creativity 

The team lacked creativity and it was obvious that Ghana has been struggling to score in recent games. Ayew was slow and even Yaw Yeboah failed to sparkle after his cameo on Friday night. The Black Stars gas scored only a goal in their last four matches.

No shot on target

After 90 minute Ghana failed to produce an effort on target. The team struggled to piece anything positive in attacker.

 

 

 

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more