Ghana defeat Mali to stay on course for World Cup
Ghana are on course for 2nd World Cup Ghana are firmly on course for a second successive World Cup appearance after an overly impressive display that saw them beat Mali 2-0 at the feared March 26 Stadium in Bamako on Sunday.
A master-plan deployed by Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac ensured the Black Stars decimated the Eagles with second half strikes by Kwadwo Asamoah and Matthew Amoah.
The Italy-based midfielder received a throw-in from John Painstil on 66 minutes and made light work of his marker before unleashing a 25-yard piledriver to open the scoring.
Amoah doubled the lead 11 minutes later when star midfielder Michael Essien beat three defenders before setting up the NAC Breda striker for a cool finish.
The victory extended the Black Stars lead at the top of Group Four with six points after Benin managed to defeat Sudan 1-0 in the group's other game earlier in the day.
This means Benin are second with three points while Mali and Sudan are tied at the bottom with a point each as the leaders have maximum six points.
Ghana will all but secure their place in the next World Cup in South Africa in 2010 if they beat Sudan in two weeks' time.
With several players injured for the Black Stars it was feared that the star-studded Mali squad would triumph at home over the Ghanaians.
Yet Rajevac named a totally unrecognisable squad that confused the loud-mouthed Mali technical team, led by Nigerian Stephen Keshi, with two first time starters Opoku Agyemang and Asamoah.
And the duo responded by repaying the faith shown in them while the back four led by John Mensah was as resolute as ever, quelling the threat from Barcelona's Seydou Keita and Freddy Kanoute – the former Africa Player of theYear.
Despite the presence of the experienced players in the Malian side, Ghana played as if they were the home side dominating possession in the first half and remained the most purposeful side on the pitch.
The Serbian coach's strategy of using players in unusual positions also confounded Keshi who might have thought regular forward Prince Tagoe would have been played as the main striker.
But Amoah was deployed as the only top man and was unlucky midway inthe first half when he narrowly missed Tagoe's cross from the right.
The Malians improved their game after the break and Mensah was at hand to prevent Kanoute from opening the scoring with a good tackle in the box.
The Black Stars were not to be denied moments later when Paintsil's throw-in came to Asamoah who wriggled free of his marker before picking hisspot for the opener.
Influential midfielder Michael Essien provided adequate cover for the defence and only chose to move into attack in the 77 th minute, and when he did it proved deadly.
The Cheslea player wriggled his way into the right hand side of the area and slipped the ball to Amoah, who calmly wrapped up the victory.
The win was certainly sweet for the Serbian coach who stood on his feet for the entire duration of the game knowing that his continuous stay with the Black Stars hinged on the game.
Rajevac's strategy proved so effective to the point that all his players hardly put a foot wrong, keeping them at the summit of Group Four.
Next up for the Black Stars is the trip to Omdurman where a victory can all but seal their place in the fiesta in South Africa as Ghana will play two matches at home in the next round.
The performance of the team will surely provide absentee midfielder Sulley Muntari with some food for thought as his excuse that he was injured did not go down well with fans.
Squad:
Richard Kingson, John Paintsil, Harrison Afful, John Mensah, Eric Addo, Anthony Annan, Michael Essien/ Moussa Narry, Kwadwo Asamoah, Prince Tagoe/Haminu Draman, Opoku Agyeman/Isaac Vorsah, Matthew Amoah.