Archive: Ghana
Overnight Group E Prediction Thread
Ok, who do you like and by what score Thursday? I have been saying the U.S.-Italy parlay has a 60-40 chance of coming in. Winners in each game will score twice. U.S. 2, Ghana 1 Italy 2, Czechs 0...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 21, 2006; 08:41 PM ET | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)
Headed in Opposite Directions?
As I mentioned in the previous post, Ghana (the United States' third Group E opponent) beat South Korea 3-1 yesterday. Ghana has never played in a World Cup; South Korea was a semifinalist in 2002 (granted, with help from some home-cooked kim-chee). Here's another report on the game. Not sure if this result tells us South Korea is bad, Ghana is good, or both ... "Attack, midfield, defence, there wasn't a single good point tonight," said the Koreans' Dutch coach Dick Advocaat. "Game by game our team play has been getting worse and that is very disappointing." Unrelated: Reports have Coach Raymond Domenech unveiling France's starting 11 at Wednesday's friendly vs. China. The BBC.com story makes it sound like it will be: GK: Barthez D: Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal MF: Viera, Makelele, Zidane, Malouda F: Henry and Trezeguet or Saha...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 5, 2006; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Kick-About
There are four days till the first game, and it's time to kick it into a higher gear ... we'll start the day with the kick-about: - Friendlies that made news: Brazil 4, New Zealand 0: Saw some highlights on Sky (thanks to Fox Soccer Channel); Adriano's goal was quite nice. Kaka scored late on a long run that made you wonder how hard New Zealand was trying at that point. Australia 1, Netherlands 1: Again, saw some highlights. Good for Australia: GK Mark Schwarzer made some gigantic saves, and hey, it's a very respectable result. Bad for Holland: three Dutch players were hurt in the game; MF Wesley Sneijder seems to be worst off. "It's like an episode of M.A.S.H.," said Holland Coach Marco van Basten said. "It was some sight in the dressing room. But I don't regret the match because it is good to play physical football."...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 5, 2006; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Who Do You Like in Group E?
Today's the big prediction day -- the Americans' group. Although I'm sure most of you don't need a primer, here are the basics: - Steve Goff's group analysis (written the day of the draw) - The Post's team profiles (also written in December). BBC.com on - The Czechs - Ghana - Italy - The U.S. Ok, so what happens here? What I want to see happen is Italy and the U.S. finish 1-2, accomplished by: - The U.S. surprising the Czechs with a tie, while Italy crusies past Ghana. - The U.S. keeps it close with Italy but loses; Czechs beat Ghana. - The U.S. blows out already-eliminated Ghana and Italy beats the Czechs ... allowing the U.S. to get through on goal differential. That would be sweet. I'm not saying it's likely, but a guy can dream, right? More probable: Italy and the Czechs tie at 7 points, the...
By Jon DeNunzio | May 12, 2006; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (79) | TrackBack (0)
Spanning the Globe ...
Like I said last week, this blog cannot just be about the "big" soccer nations (and the U.S.). So, in the spirit of learning about the little guys, I give you: - Ukraine gets its first-string goalie back from injury. It may not seem like a big deal, but the Ukraine was the first European team to qualify for the World Cup, coming out of a qualifying group that included Turkey, Denmark and Greece (check out Group 2 here). Shovkovsky started all 12 qualifiers, allowing seven goals. - Ghana has a young goal-scoring prospect named Prince Tagoe. He hasn't played much yet: [Tagoe] made his Ghana debut in a friendly against Tunisia on 15 January and subsequently appeared twice at the CAF African Nations Cup, coming on as a late substitute against Senegal and then playing the first 45 minutes of the embarrassing 2-1 defeat by Zimbabwe. But hey, they...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 10, 2006; 06:00 PM ET | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
What's Up With Ghana?
Ghana had to cancel one of its pre-Cup friendlies. That can't be good for preparation. Interestingly, the Black Stars have done this already this year. That said, they have three other friendlies lined up (according to this piece)... - vs. Turkey in Germany on May 26 (exact site not listed) - vs. Jamaica in London on May 29 - vs. South Korea in Glasgow on June 4 Ghana, of course, will play in Group E with the U.S., Italy and the Czech Republic....
By Jon DeNunzio | April 7, 2006; 02:24 PM ET | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
