NEWS : England Vs Ghana – Can Ghana Topple “Disrespectful” England?

Written by Tego Sigel on 29 Mar 2011

Tonight sees England welcome World Cup heroes Ghana to Wembley following a vital European Championship qualifier against Wales at the weekend.

A strong Ghanaian community in England sees tonight’s game take on an extra importance with the two nations facing each other for the first time at senior level. Disappointingly, the somewhat bizarrely timed friendly will not feature stars Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole or Michael Dawson who were sent home in preparation for busy domestic schedules with their respective clubs, a decision Ghana’s Stephen Appiah thinks is a touch disrespectful “Some Ghanaians are really sad they are not going to play. Maybe Mr Capello has his own reasons, we have to respect those.” Similarly disappointing will be the absence of Michael Essien who is taking a temporary break from international football but will be in attendance among the 21,000 expected Ghanaian fans.

Ghana became the favourite team at World Cup 2010 for many neutrals and most England fans following a disappointing campaign from their own country and an emotional drive to the Quarter Finals for the African nation. Only a late handball from now-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez stopped Stephen Appiah from sending the Black Stars through to the Semi-Final. One of the players of the tournament Asamoah Gyan moved to the Premier League in the weeks following the tournament, joining Sunderland for £13,000,000 a fee he is already justifying with his electrifying performances and impressive goal tally. Gyan will be able to rely on a powerful midfield featuring fellow Sunderland star Suly Muntari and the tenacious Anthony Annan. Prince Tagoe will also be hoping to build on his impressive performances at the World Cup. John Mensah is another Ghanaian at Sunderland and he will be expected to marshal an inexperienced back-line ahead of Blackpool’s athletic goalkeeper Richard Kingson whose undeniable shot-stopping ability is not matched by great distribution skills.

England are set to make wholesale changes to the side that beat Wales on Saturday with Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, James Milner, Gareth Barry, Stuart Downing and Andy Carroll in line to start with only Joe Hart, Jack Wilshere, Glen Johnson and Ashley Young expected to keep their place. For left-back Baines, centre-back pairing Jagielka and Cahill and striker Carroll, the game comes as a great opportunity to make their mark early in their respective England careers. Darren Bent and Scott Parker are also in contention for a starting place but it’s thought Fabio Capello will leave them both on the bench with the pair facing crucial relegation battles with their club in the coming weeks.

There will be no shortage of atmosphere at the game tonight as Ghana are presented with the opportunity to be the first African nation to ever beat England.

England Vs Ghana is live on itv1 from 19:30 this evening. Kick off 19:45.

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6 Responses to “England Vs Ghana – Can Ghana Topple “Disrespectful” England?”

  1. Ziasmila says:
    29 Mar 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Besides the idea of helping England’s fringe players develop, there is also the need to respect the agenda of the top players’ respective clubs. Fact: a Champions League fixture is arguably more important than a friendly match.

    Will anyone compromise then, after hearing Gareth Barry’s opinion? The midfielder, who has been appointed to captain England against Ghana, said the following to the media:

    “I know that the fans have bought their ticket to see certain individuals perform for England. But at the same time, the rest of the players [called up ahead of this international break] were in the squad from the start. They weren’t just called up at the last minute.”

    Whereas English supporters may comfort themselves with Capello and Barry’s excuses, Ghanaian fans will obviously remain annoyed about the situation. For them, England vs Ghana was supposed to be about testing the Black Stars’ potential against some of the world’s most popular players.

    Chelsea’s John Terry and Ashley Cole in defence, Frank Lampard in midfield, Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney upfront… this is the kind of prospect that Ghanaian supporters were hoping for. But as it has been confirmed, it won’t happen.

  2. Ali Reading says:
    29 Mar 2011 at 6:51 pm

    Kick off is at 8pm, you need to get your facts right.

  3. Rodingo tara says:
    29 Mar 2011 at 6:51 pm

    Honestly, have England’s top stars managed to offer that on a consistent basis since last year? What tells us that the Three Lions’ fringe players won’t perform even better than the big names?

    Above all, whatever happens on Tuesday, Fabio Capello believes that it’s worth supporting the development of non-regular faces in the national team. In his message to the supporters, the manager said according to The Guardian:

    “It will be interesting for the fans to see some players that they know very well. The players who will play [against Ghana] will be really good players, and I hope we can see the spirit on the pitch like in the first 30 minutes against Wales.”

  4. Virsadim says:
    29 Mar 2011 at 6:49 pm

    I this england will win the match . Roney will be key for england .The home crowd at Wembley is used to witnessing unimpressive performances from England and responding to poor displays with boos has even become a routine. The average fan may agree with me that the best way to ignore the huge price of a match ticket is to be treated with a great performance by the players on the pitch.

  5. DHLomml says:
    29 Mar 2011 at 6:44 pm

    Great Post, real Thinker . Fantastic . Go on

  6. ABRAHAM ACQUAH says:
    29 Mar 2011 at 6:04 pm

    AM SORRY FOR YOU ENGLAND FOUR GOALS SHALL BE IN YOUR NET TONIGHT

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