Wakaso’s long ranger gives Black Stars victory over Ethiopia
Mubarak Wakaso came to the party for the Black Stars of Ghana against the Walias of Ethiopia in the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier at the Cape Coast Stadium.
In a game that sea the Ethiopians sat back and made forward runs only on the counter and limited the Stars attacking threats, it was Wakasu who produced his trademark goal to save the day for CK Akonnor’s side. His 34th-minute long-range effort made Teklemariam Shanko look useless and committed a gargantuan howler by letting the ball pass through his hands and legs into the back of the net.
He would make way for Fasil Gebremichael at the start of the second half as Coach Webutu Abate sought to limit the number of goals they would likely concede from such errors.
Before the goal, Ghana was on the receiving end of injury as Crystal Palace midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp pulled up with a hamstring injury two minutes before the half-hour mark and was replaced by Daniel-Kofi Kyere who made his Ghana debut.
Richard Ofori was on hand to deny the Ethiopian’s an immediate reply when he reacted quickly to a shot from outside the box soon after Wakasu’s goal. He was again on hand to stop another scoring opportunity towards the end of the second half.
Ghana also had a few other opportunities but Andre Ayew was faster than the ball when Jordan selflessly threaded a ball from the right side into the box with Andre just needing to guide it past the goalkeeper. Youngster Kamaldeen Sulemana had a ferocious shot expertly blocked by the quick-reacting Ethiopian goalkeeper Gebremichael to keep the scores at 1-0.
Ghana lead Group G with three points and will face South Africa next week Tuesday at Johannesburg. The Bafana Bafana played a goalless draw away to Zimbabwe. Ethiopia meanwhile will be encouraged by their performance against the Black Stars and would hope to pick something positive at home to Zimbabwe in matchday two.
By: Clifford Adumbire | myactiveonline.com
