At Qatar 2022, Ghana will appear at a fourth Fifa World Cup, hoping for more good memories on a stage where they’ve had lots of fun in the past. Ahead of their November 24 kick-off against Portugal at the futuristic Stadium 974 in Doha, Ink & Kicks reviews the 13 goals already in the Black Stars’ World Cup account.
Today, we’re on Goal #4…
“It’s always difficult to take penalties,” Stephen Appiah, possibly Ghana’s greatest-ever captain, said on live television last year, while on Euro 2020 punditry duty.
To buttress that point, Appiah drew on his own experience; memories, specifically, of arguably the most decisive penalty he ever took – and, oh, he did take quite a few during his time, didn’t he? – in Ghana’s second group game at the 2006 Fifa World Cup.
“Against the USA, a minute to half-time [sic], we got a penalty and I had to take it. It was very difficult because this is a situation that [sic] everybody was looking at you. And when you think about home – Ghanaians, the streets and families… I lost like five kilos on the spot.”
Talk about the weight of expectation, eh?
That weight was placed on his broad shoulders in first-half added time, when German referee Markus Merk awarded the Black Stars a spot-kick, not many minutes after USA forward Clint Dempsey had levelled Haminu Draman’s opener.
Carlos Bocanegra had scuffed the clearance of a long ball hoofed deep into the American half, allowing Ghana’s Matthew Amoah to glance a header into the opposition box. Oguchi Onyewu was on hand to head it clear – and he did, only with a gentle nudge on the lurking Razak Pimpong (in for Asamoah Gyan, suspended) that Merk adjudged a foul.
If ever a penalty could be described as soft or light, it was this one – but a penalty, regardless.
The task of converting it, though, was far harder and heavier, and Ghana’s captain certainly felt it. Thankfully, Appiah – who spent the bulk of his club career playing in Italy – found a way to shed all of that and focus single-mindedly on the responsibility that was now squarely his.
“You see, working under coaches like Arrigo Sacchi, Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi and the rest, [they tell you] when you’re taking a penalty, just target one place and hit the ball there. So that’s what I did and I buried the ball that day.”
Kasey Keller, in goal for the USA, flew the other way.
By the time Keller picked his beaten self off the ground, Appiah – socks rolled down, as was always his style, shin-guards sticking out – was already on his way, celebrating in a manner that felt like an explosive outpouring of all the pent-up emotion.
It didn’t matter that the second half was goalless. Appiah had made sure of the result, and of Ghana’s progress to the Round of 16 – all at the cost of, well, just about five kilos.
Enn Y. Frimpong – Ink & Kicks
