Ghana have gone
through to the
quarter-final
stage at the top
of Group B when
Niger succumbed to a 0-3 defeat
at the Nelson
Mandela Bay
Stadium. The Black Stars
are to face
debutants Cape Verde in the next round after
captain Asamoah Gyan, Christian
Atsu and defender John Boye
gave them a convincing victory to
send the Mena packing. Niger started the game the more
aggressive and determined of the
sides as the Mena looked to get
the upsetting win that will
guarantee them progression into
the next round causing the Ghanaian defence a number of
uncomfortable moments early on. But it was the Black Stars who
hit them on the counter in the
6th minute as Albert Adomah's
cut back from the right found Gyan who controlled well before smashing home his first goal of
the tournament to give the
Ghanaians the lead. The Mena still kept going forward
and after poor control from
Moussa Maazou and some last
ditch defending from John Boye,
Niger thought they had found the
equalizer, but Sidibe Modibo's strike was disallowed for a foul by
Maazou on goalkeeper Fatau
Dauda in the build up to the goal. All the concentration going
forward was, however, leaving
Niger vulnerable at the back and
a carbon copy of the counter
attack that led to the goal saw
Gyan scuff his shot this time round. Niger, however, did not
heed the warning and were hit on
the counter attack again asAtsu played a delightful one-two with
the Al Ain striker whose return
pass was perfectly placed to allow
the Porto man to control on his
chest before slotting the ball into
the bottom corner for his first goal of the tournament. Niger, however, still kept going
forward and were almost hit on
the counter attack again almost
a few minutes later as Kofi
Dankwah was left facing four
Ghanaians alone but the defender managed to intercept the final
ball to avert a third goal. Just as
Ghana seemed to be finally
settling on the ball, however,
Niger almost pulled a goal back on
the counter attack as Modibo almost got a foot on Maazou's
cross across the face of goal.
That chance put Niger back on
the front foot but the Ghanaians
were soon hitting on the counter
again as Emmanuel Agyemang- Badu forced a save out of the
goalkeeper with a shot from 20-
yard out. The second half started in similar
fashion to the first as a good
start for Niger was almost erased
with another good counter
attacking move but this time Atsu
spent so much time trying to decide whether to shoot or cross
and ended up doing neither with
a weak effort. The Ghanaians,
however, did not have to wait
long for their third goal as
Daouda could only parry Gyan's header from a free kick into the
feet of defenderBoye who bundled it home. Dankwah had to
be alert a couple of minutes later
as a cross from Asamoah almost
got through to Gyan. Maazou
then headed wide from a great
cross just seconds later as Niger went on an instant counter
attack.
The third goal, however, seemed
to put an end to the countless
counter attacks as both teams
seemed to have finally started to
make more use of possession.
Despite both teams still creating chances neither goalkeepers
seemed overly disturbed though
Dauda had to be alert to deal
with a weak back pass from
Paintsil as the game petered out,
failing to provide any more excitement as the Black Stars
held on for the win. The win means Ghana finish top of
their group with seven points and
will be meeting Cape Verde in the
quarter-finals while Niger will be
taking comfort from the fact that
they managed to represent their country in a second consecutive
Africa Cup of Nations and will be
going back to Niamey with their
nation's first point at the
tournament.