Qatar 2022: Resilient Black Stars Shine Against South Korea

Ghana beat South Korea 3-2 in their second game at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The match started with a lot of chances created by the South Koreans. On several occasions, the Ghanaian defense came under fire. The Asian country monopolized the ball in the first ten minutes and put enormous pressure on the West Africans.

The match was one-sided with almost all of the action taking place in the Black Stars camp. At least, until Ghana rolled out some futile counterattacks. Pressure from South Korea did not deter the African country who scored the opener against the run of play.

On a free kick taken by Jordan Ayew, Mohammed Salisu placed his shot past South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-Gyu despite an unorthodox position of the Southampton central defender at the 24th minute.

It was Ghana’s first ever real chance in the contest and the 23-year-old didn’t pass it up.

This lead gave confidence to Black Stars as they became more aggressive towards the Taegeuk Warriors.

In search for an equalizer, South Korea pushed higher up the pitch. The Black Stars took the opportunity to double their lead to 2-0 after ten minutes. On a cross from Jordan Ayew, Mohammed Kudus made slight contact with the ball with which ended up in the South Korean net at the 34th minute.

Upon a return from the locker room, it became more interesting with 3 more goals in the second half.

The Koreans started with a change as Na took Jeong’s place and the men of Bento settled into the Ghana camp. The pressure then multiplied and the Ghanaians began to make fatal errors in defense especially some from Tariq Lamptey. In the 57th minute, another change came for the Asian side, when Kang-In Lee replaced Kwon.

Newcomer Kang-In Lee sent a cross on the head of Cho Gue-Sung who opened the scoring for his team in the 58th minute to make it 2-1.

But, even before Ghana could check the damage from the opponents, Korea added another. Kim Jin-Su sent another cross to the far post for Cho who completed his double on the evening in just 3 minutes.

Ghana was gradually sinking under the pressure of the Taegeuk Warriors. However, as usual since the start of the competition in Qatar, the Black Stars were again opportunistic.

Kudus went for his brace in the 68th minute, when the 22-year-old Ajax Amsterdam midfielder took advantage of a cross from Gideon Mensah initially missed by Inaki Williams to score with a curling effort.

Behind, South Korea began to multiply their attacks, Ghana being very unperturbed, especially their goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, author of several incredible parades. Long balls followed by shots troubled the Ghanaian defense. During the ten minutes of additional time, Ghana managed the ball.

At the end of a mind-blowing game, South Korea matched Ghana stride for stride but left too much space in defense and were punished.

Ghana took advantage of its opportunities to hurt their opponent. 3-2, Ghana are now with 3 points, and second placed in Group H, behind Portugal.