The dreaded “Group of Death” came to a close this morning as Portugal faced Ghana in an attempt to try to come out victorious and hopefully a ticket into the Round of 16. Portugal comes with a draw against USA. Ghana comes with a 2-2 draw against Germany.
Both sides began pressuring to gain the upper hand of the match, trying to gain control of the midfield. Portugal took the lead with an own goal by John Boye on the 31st minute. This lead woke up Portugal’s hope of gaining their ticket into the next round and even with a 1-0 lead, Portugal kept pressuring in the first half trying to score more goals to get ahead of the USA on goal differential. The first yellow card of the match went to the Ghana defender, Harrison Afful, on the 39th minute. The first half ended with a 1-0 lead for Portugal and a yellow card for Ghana.
Ghana increased their amount of pressure in the second half in order to score the equalizer. Majeed Waris received the second yellow card for Ghana on the 55th minute. The hard work from Ghana so far in the second half led Asamoah Gyan to net the equalizer on the 57th minute with a wonderful header into the back of the net. Ghana has played decent so far even though they are missing two of their main players due to disciplinary action.
The first substitution of the match came from Portugal as Silvestre Varela replaced Joao Pereira in the Portuguese defense on the 61st minute. Jordan Pierre Ayew came on in the 71st minute for Majeed Waris as Ghana’s first substitution of the match. Acquah Afriyie replaced Mahammed Rabiu in the Ghana midfield on the 76th minute. Jordan Pierre Ayew received the third yellow card for Ghana on the 78th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo came to Portugal’s rescue as he scores the second of the match on the 80th minute.
The final substitution for Ghana came on the 82nd minute as Mubarak Wakaso replaced Andre Ayew in the midfield. Eduardo came on for Beto on the 88th minute as Portugal’s final substitution. Joao Moutinho received the only yellow card for Portugal on the 93rd minute. The score ended 2-1 with either Portugal or Ghana qualified for the Round of 16. Germany and USA will advance from the dreaded “Group of Death” even though it was not believed that the Americans would advance passed the group stage. Cristiano Ronaldo will head back to Madrid early with his nation’s failure to qualify with plenty of time to fully recover from his injuries.
Photo Credit: Getty Images