Black Stars Salute ‘Dede’

Petros Kausiyo
AS Ghana continue to bask in the glory that comes with securing a quarter-final berth at a World Cup, members of the Black Stars triumphant side have heaped praise on one of the stars to emerge out of their fairytale run at the global soccer showpiece here — winger Andre Ayew.

The 20-year-old son of Ghana legend Abedi “Pele” Ayew, who plays his club football for Arles in France, received plaudits from his teammates midfielder Anthony Annan and defender John Painstil after Ghana’s memorable 2-1 win over United States in a second round clash on Saturday night booked them a place into the quarter-finals.

Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan scored the winning goal with a wonder strike after three minutes of extra time at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium after Portsmouth’s Kevin-Prince Boateng had put Ghana ahead, only to be pegged back by a Landon Donovan penalty following a foul on Fulham’s Clint Dempsey in the box.

Ayew was, however, voted the Budweiser Man-of-the-Match for yet another fine showing that inspired Ghana to their historic win.

Ghana became only the third African country after Cameroon and Senegal to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup and after edging a battling United States, the Black Stars are now high on confidence and believe they can even go a step further and reach the last four.

They face Uruguay who beat South Korea by an identical 2-1 margin in the first of the second round clashes of the tournament in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon.

So far the Black Stars are the only group runner-up out from the first three second round matches to have advanced to the last eight. Fellow group runners-up England, hammered 4-1 by bitter rivals Germany in Bloemfontein, Mexico, thrashed 3-1 by old enemies Argentina at Soccer City and South Korea have fallen by the wayside.

But as they prepare to face Uruguay at the Soccer City in Johannesburg on Friday night, the Black Stars have also taken time to reflect on their success in Rustenburg.

Interestingly it is the second time that Ghana have sent the United States packing from the World Cup after having beaten the Americans by a similar margin in a final group game in Germany four years ago.

Naturally the focus has fallen on one of the brightest of the Ghana stars at this showpiece — Ayew — who was virtually an unknown quantity two years ago when he burst into Black Stars squad for the 2008 African Cup of Nations amid condemnation in some quarters in the West African country over the then teenager’s selection.

But it was last year that the talent in Pele’s son manifested itself when he led the Ghana Under-20 side to a historic treble, winning the West African, Africa and the Fifa World Under-20 tournament, staged in Egypt.

It was the first time an African side had achieved that feat. Ayew then followed up with a fine performance at the African Cup of Nations in Angola in January, helping the Black Stars to a runners-up finish behind champions Egypt.

His teammates believe that Ayew who turns 21 on December 17, has matured in time for the grand stage while Black Stars’ Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac shown faith in him by handing him a start in each of their World Cup matches here.

After their win over USA, his teammates heaped praise on Ayew with Fulham defender Painstil telling Fifa.com that the young midfielder was “clearly one of the most talented players in the squad”.

“He was great this evening. I’m very happy for him. He’s imposing himself little by little in the team and he’s clearly one of the most talented players in the squad. Today he proved he could carry the whole side on his shoulders,” Painstil said.

Rosenborg midfielder Anthony Annan, nephew of former United Nations secretary-general Koffi Annan, described Ayew simply as a “super lad”.

“Since his arrival in the senior team, he’s always been very respectful towards the older players. He listens to their advice and worked hard to win his place. He’s not the type to always show off, even if he has the talent to justify it. We’re all very happy for him,” Annan said.

But Ayew, who has also been praised for his discipline, remained modest even as the plaudits came from all corners in Ghana and the rest of the continent, instead crediting the Black Stars’ success to team effort.

“Of course, I’m happy to have been named Man-of-the-Match in a World Cup game at only 20.

“I think I had a good match, but it wasn’t en extraordinary performance either. The coach put his faith in me and it was the least I could do to give everything for him,” Ayew said.

But Ayew admitted it had been a tough night for the Black Stars in Rustenburg but as the old saying goes, “the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory”.

“Everyone played a great match tonight. . . we fought like lions and showed plenty of determination and application. We deserve our place among the eight best teams in the world. We had to fight to the last second and we gave our all. We fought for the continent and for Ghana. We hope the whole African nation is proud. Everything is possible.

“We are very tired but we have five days rest and we will focus for the next game against Uruguay. They have great strikers but if God is behind us anything is possible. We were disappointed there was no African team with us.

“We need to make the whole continent proud and we feel we have the whole continent behind us and that gives us energy,” Ayew said.

His coach Rajevac believes the Black Stars are not yet finished in this competition and has backed his charges to go further than the last eight.

“Ghana are now among the eight best teams in the world. This is fantastic. When we reached the final of the African Cup the boys learned how to compete. That is the most important thing and I now hope Ghana will go further.

“The whole world is watching these games. Everybody loves good football. Ghana has the support of the whole world because it is the only African country still playing at the World Cup,” Rajevac said.

But unfortunately for Ghana Ayew will miss the crunch tie against Uruguay after picking up his second yellow card in the competition. Big centreback Jonathan Mensah, who plays for Sunday Chidzambwa’s Free State Stars, will also sit out the Uruguay game for the same reasons.

Rajevac also revealed his worry about the injuries in his camp with Bayer Leverkusen defender Hans Sarpei and Boateng failing to last the match against USA because of injuries.