Teranga Lions Humble The Black Stars in Group C Opener

After 90 minutes of action in the opening Group C game The Teranga Lions of Senegal coolly dispatched the Black Stars 2-1 with a late goal that broke Ghanaian hearts.

Stand-in skipper Andre Ayew put the Stars ahead from the spot in the 14th minute. But a lackadaisical Stars side allowed the Senegalese back into the game. Stoke City’s Mame Biram Diouf got the equaliser, only for substitute Moussa Sow to strike deep into storage time to send Alan Giresse and his boys into ruptures of joy.

Asamoah Gyan was a pre game doubt due to a bout of malaria, and the skipper failed to make the side despite a little hope he might recover in time. In his absence, the responsibility for leading the side fell on Marseille’s Andre Ayew Dede.

Never one to shy from responsibility, the son of Ghana’s living legend took the challenge with aplomb. When Christian Atsu was brought down in the box, there was never any doubt about who was hitting the penalty. Ayew’s shot straight down the middle giving Ghana the early lead.

Ghana was not really secure despite having gone 1 ahead, Senegal mostly threatening from aerial balls. There was an obvious height disparity between the two sides, one which the Lions where not hesitant to exploit.

Kara Mbodj had a header strike the post in the 27th minute, before Mame Biram Diouf’s spectacular overhead was acrobatically tipped over by Razak Braimah. For a while, only the agility of the Spain based keeper was keeping the Stars in the game, and it was so till the half time whistle blew.

Ghana came a little revitalised for the second half, calmly keeping possession whilst attempting to wind down time. Unfortunately, Senegal’s one way tactic of going for the aerial ball was going to pay off soon.

Soure sent in a dangerously deep cross, which was connected by Mame Diouf. It struck the woodwork, but the striker was the fastest to respond to the rebound, heading back in to draw the game level.

Grant made some changes to try and stem the tide of Senegalese dominance, but neither Wakaso Mubarak nor Afriyie Acquah could make much of a difference. Senegal continued to dominate, and missed a couple of sitters that should have killed the game off as a contest.

Ghana almost snatched an underserved win, but Jordan could not make a clean connection to Afful’s dipping cross.

When the referee added three minutes of stoppage time, most Ghanaians would have started mentally preparing themselves for the draw. Senegal had other ideas though; substitute Moussa Sow getting the winner with virtually the last kick of the game.

Disappointing opening result for the Black Stars, but all is not lost despite the tough nature of the opponents in the group. Algeria take on South Africa in the day’s late game, and Ghana would be patiently waiting on the result to get a clearer picture of our standing in the group of death.