England’s Group L opponents Ghana are more World Cup-ready than you might think
Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app.
Ghana have a fixed amount of time to address a fluid list of issues before the World Cup.
The West African nation made the bold decision to fire their head coach Otto Addo in March, with just 78 days to go until the tournament, before parachuting in Carlos Queiroz. The hope was the former Manchester United assistant and Portugal coach (among many other countries) could bring his trademark defensive pragmatism to a team who have lacked structure in open play.
Ghana were one of the last countries to name their 26-person squad for the World Cup, as Queiroz looked to find solutions to a squad hit by injuries. Monaco centre-back Mohammed Salisu injured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January. Tottenham Hotspur’s Mohammed Kudus suffered a quad injury that same month, and then experienced a setback. Centre-back Alexander Djiku pulled up with a hamstring issue in Spartak Moscow’s Russian Cup final win last month.
It all means Ghana are travelling to North America for their fifth World Cup without their best centre-back partnership and one of their best forwards. Queiroz, 73, has had less than two months to get acclimatised to his new surroundings.
Carlos Queiroz was only appointed Ghana coach in April (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Before Tuesday night’s friendly against Wales, Ghana had lost their previous six matches and looked to be in a tailspin. A well-fought 1-1 draw in Cardiff at least halted that slump and brought some much-needed clarity. They are ranked 73rd in FIFA’s standings — between Georgia and Finland — but this game showed they possess a counter-attacking threat that opposition teams will have to take seriously.
Queiroz named a starting XI that was close to full strength in Cardiff for his first game in the Ghana dugout and, while his team looked unsteady in places, they offered something for fans to be hopeful about.
“I believe with the next programme of 10 days of training sessions, we will make a lot of progress and be much more consistent,” the head coach said afterwards. “The win was in our pocket, but it’s time to learn. When we are winning 1-0, there’s no way that we can let the win escape from our pocket, but unfortunately it happens.”
Queiroz’s task is both to lay the track for Ghana and direct the train.
He appears to favour Lawrence Ati Zigi of Swiss club St. Gallen as his No 1 goalkeeper over Ghana-based Benjamin Asare, solving one of the squad’s more immediate issues, and the former repaid his faith in a first half where his team played on the back foot.
Ghana mustered only 29 per cent possession before the break, yet matched Wales’ two shots on target by the interval — common territory for Queiroz-managed teams. The experienced head coach took Iran to the previous three World Cups and, with very little training time available to him, Ghana’s gameplan seems to revolve around defending deep, blocking off the centre of the field and attempting to frustrate the opposition.
This summer, expect Queiroz’s side to flip the frustrated mistakes of their opponents into counter-attacking opportunities. If they can force the opposition to chase the game, it will open more opportunities for Ghana’s direct wingers to run in behind down the other end.
Ghana fans celebrate in Cardiff (Warren Little/Getty Images)
Things looked to be working when midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi opened the scoring partway through the second half. It was a goal that started from Wales losing the ball while passing out from the back, before substitute Ernest Nuamah surged down the wing. The winger’s effort was saved by Wales goalkeeper Karl Darlow, but the rebound was bundled in by Yirenkyi.
It was chaotic football partly by design, partly by mistake.
“They call it football, but it’s the winning business,” Queiroz said of his tactical approach. “The way we win, I don’t care. I just want to win. If you have 80 per cent of the ball and lose, I don’t like that. I’ll go mad. But if I defend 80 per cent with quality defending and we win, I’m happy. Because when we win, the fans are happy. The people are happy. The country is happy.”
A stoppage-time equaliser from Lewis Koumas took the gloss off what could have been an encouraging result from Ghana, but they look better equipped than previously thought for the challenge of Group L at the World Cup, featuring England, Croatia and Panama.
Queiroz has described the round of 32 as “the main goal” for the tournament — for that to happen, they will most likely need to get a result in their opening match against Panama. Jordan Ayew’s set-piece deliveries and off-ball running will be important. And it remains to be seen how Antoine Semenyo goes about shouldering his nation’s attacking hopes given Queiroz’s extreme pragmatism.
Meanwhile, the head coach says he has no concerns over Thomas Partey’s presence in the squad, or the manner in which the former Arsenal midfielder will be received by crowds in North America, despite being booed by Wales fans. Partey faces rape and sexual assault charges in the United Kingdom, which he denies. The Athletic has explained the situation and what impact it could have on obtaining a visa to enter the United States.
To solve Ghana’s changing set of problems, Queiroz has to find the right alchemy of timing and talent.