Uganda’s return to the Africa Cup of Nations after 39 years away was spoiled by a Ghana team that would have ran rampant if not for far too many small, and stupid mistakes.
‘The Black Stars’ opened their scoring through Andre Ayew, who converted a penalty rather cheekily won by former Sunderland man Asamoah Gyan. They would come close to scoring again many times during the match, but decided not to apply the pressure towards the end of the match.
Ghana’s forward corps of Atsu, Gyan and the Ayew brothers were given license to run wild by a poor Uganda defence. The Cranes of Uganda just couldn’t keep up and for whatever reason - Ghana switched off with ten minutes to go instead of pressing for another goal to put the match away.
The decision to park the bus is made even more strange by the fact that Ghana consistently made errors in the defensive third and if not for a world class tackle by Amarte - they would have allowed a Uganda equaliser. The match was there for the taking for Ghana, but they refused to actually, you know, take it. Uganda came out with some fight in the second half, especially late on and should be encouraged by this performance.
As for Jordan Ayew - he had his moments of brilliance, but couldn’t find a way to make a true impact in the match. A familiar story for Villa fans.
Also - if Villa need a new keeper, they should look no further than Uganda’s Denis Onyango:
I was bashing Uganda’s squad, but it appears that Denis Onyango is a very good goalkeeper. From @Ranking_IFFHS:https://t.co/9EulrTQWW3 pic.twitter.com/Amfy8p0935
— Jack Grimse (@JackGrimse) January 17, 2017