In 2010, Ghana, under coach Milovan Rajevac, nearly reached the semi-finals of the World
Cup. Along with Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002, the Black Stars’ Quarter Final
appearance in South Africa equals the best performance by an African nation to date at
a FIFA World Cup.
Rajevac, who won the African Coach of the Year and the Serbian Coach of the Year awards
in 2010 on the back of his success with the side, took a good squad to South Africa, but
a combination of surprising selections and a strong tactical game plan saw the team exceed
expectations. Ghana were also unable to take their best player, Michael Essien, to the
tournament, after he was ruled out by a knee injury suffered at the Africa Cup of Nations
earlier in the year.
Ghana emerged from a tricky group, featuring Germany, Serbia, and Australia, before defeating
the United States in the Round of 16. They only failed to win a spot in the semi-finals
after a controversial game against Uruguay, in which Luis Suarez was sent off for hand
ball in extra time, blocking a shot on the line. Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty
and Ghana then went out 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out.
Ghana’s preferred system in 2010 was the 4-2-3-1, which could also look like a 4-3-3
if the attacking midfielder dropped back into the middle and a central midfielder sat deep.
The front line usually saw Rennes’ Asamoah Gyan leading it as a centre forward, flanked
on the right by Prince Tagoe of Hoffenheim, with a 20 year old Andre Ayew, playing at
the time at the now defunct Arles-Avignon on the left, and Udinese’s Kwadwo Asamoah
in the middle.
It’s noticeable, though, how fluid this line was. Against Australia, for example,
after the opening minutes Kwadwo Asamoah swapped with Ayew, while Tagoe was often the furthest
player forward, replaced on the right by midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng. This made Ghana very
hard to mark man-for-man, with Ayew even popping up in central midfield at times.
Boateng, uncapped prior to the tournament and playing at Portsmouth, was joined in midfield
by Anthony Annan of Rosenborg; Annan was only 23 but had amassed 38 caps at the beginning
of the tournament as a hard-working defensive midfielder. Rajevac had the experienced Sulley
Muntari of Inter, Derek Boateng of Granada, and Stephen Appiah of Bologna in his squad
with 127 caps between them, but preferred the energy and drive of Kevin Prince Boateng
and Annan in his pivot.
Ghana usually set up as a 4-1-4-1 in a mid and low block, with Annan the screening midfielder
who also had licence to press forwards if the opposition attacked through the centre.
Generally Ghana did not press high, although Gyan would track the ball if the opposition
passed it around the back. In a mid-block, Ghana often left quite a gap between the front
five and back five, encouraging the opposition to play long balls forwards into the space,
where Ghana’s dominant centre backs and Annan would look to win the ball in the air
or by competing for the second ball. The full backs would often tuck inside as well, trying
to create a ring around that second ball, further enabling Ghana to defend well against
direct play.
Ghana’s defensive strategy in the 4-2-3-1 did vary, with the mid-block sometimes a 4-4-2
with either Asamoah or Boateng assisting Gyan, and while it would be hard to describe their
front-foot defence as pressing, Ghana did often try to apply pressure to defenders to
get them to play long.
In build-up, Ghana would sometimes play out from the back, usually with ‘keeper Richard
Kingson playing short to right-back John Paintsil, who would then look for Annan or a centre
back inside. Annan acted as a fulcrum in low build-up, either shuttling the ball from one
side to the other, or looking for short passes forwards and into the midfield line.
Kwadwo Asamoah and Kevin-Prince Boateng worked hard to create movement between the lines,
with Asamoah especially playing a crucial all-round attacking role as a creator of space,
moving into the channels particularly on the right-hand side, and acting as a link between
the forwards by offering a passing option.
Ghana were capable of excellent build-up play, with Boateng’s driving runs and Asamoah’s
deft passing opening up space for the aggressive movement of the forward line. The front three
would often stay very wide to stretch the opposition back line then move infield into
the space created by Gyan’s movement and the runs of the midfield. Paintsil and left
back Hans Sarpei, who would check inside to his stronger right foot to angle in crosses,
would overlap at times, but were cautious in maintaining the team’s shape.
Ghana would also go direct, looking to hit passes from full-back down the line to one
of the wide players, with Asamoah moving across to offer an option, while Boateng pushed up
and into the space vacated by his teammate to act as a second striker.
Tagoe and Ayew were extremely quick direct runners and could isolate their opposition
full backs before driving infield. This, with the general fluidity of the supporting players,
meant when Ghana clicked they were extremely hard to mark. At times, Asasmoah would move
out to receive the line pass with Tagoe moving straight infield – again, everything was
geared towards making it very hard for the opposition to man-mark individuals and instead
be forced to deal with players constantly swapping positions and roles.
Ghana took a young squad to the World Cup and fielded a surprisingly young starting
eleven where possible. Even against the USA, when Tagoe wasn’t available, right back
Samuel Inkoom started at right wing aged just 20 – incidentally, this confused FIFA, who
listed the formation as a 5-4-1, but Rajevac actually stayed with his preferred set-up.
Ghana had their issues, too: Kingson had a tendency to spill shots, as with Australia’s
goal in the group stage, though he was excellent against Uruguay; Ghana regularly shot from
distance to little effect and for all their excellent movement found clear-cut chances
hard to generate; and Rajevac struggled to name a settled centre-back pairing all tournament.
But for an extremely young side under a relatively unheralded coach, Ghana overachieved in 2010,
with Kevin-Prince Boateng and Kwadwo Asamoah especially proving they could cut it at the
highest level. And while most pundits didn’t back them to make it out of the group, Ghana
remain the last African team to reach a World Cup quarter final.