Staff Reporter.
Ghana’s quest for a forth World Cup Appearance was dealt a huge blow after failing to beat Ethiopia in their penultimate Group G Qualifier on Thursday,(11 November).
The Black Stars took the lead midway through the first half when Captain Andre Ayew expertly dispatched a left-footed freekick into the left top corner of the Ethiopian goal post.
However, Ethiopia Skipper Getaneh Kebede equalized after pouncing on a lose ball to put the ball beyond the reach of Jojo Wallacott.
Ghana came out of the blocks the quickest with Andre Ayew put through by Kudus seconds after kick off but the skipper could not get to the end of the pass
Just five minutes in, The Black Stars came close again through Andre Ayew and Richmond Boakye Yiadom who were both denied by the brilliance of the Ethiopian keeper.
The Walia Antelopes gradually settled into the match with their trade passing and movement but found spaces in the Black Stars defense hard to come by.
The scoreline remain 1-0 in favour of the Black Stars as the two sides went into the halftime break.
The Walia Antelopes dominated the opening exchanges with their vintage possession football.
But despite their dominance, the Black Stars held a decent defensive line until close to the hour mark when Shimeless Bekele Godo struck the post with a ferocious strike.
The Ghana’s looking extremely fragile, Head Coach Milovan Rajevac pulled off striker Boakye Yiadom and replaces him with defensive midfielder Mubarak Wakaso.
The change did not stop the Ethiopians from their dominance and their resilience finally paid off in the 72nd minute when skipper Getaneh Kebede capitalised on a mistake by defender Joseph Aidoo to level things up.
The result – which came about thanks to goals from Andre Ayew and Getaneh Kebede – means Bafana Bafana need only avoid defeat away to Ghana on Sunday evening to guarantee top spot in the group and advance into the final phase of qualification.The Black Stars will need to defeat South Africa in Cape Coast in their final match to have any chance of advancing into the playoffs – and even that may not be enough, depending on Bafana’s result against the Warriors later on Thursday and how a potential head-to-head tie-breaker plays out.
The teams will wrap up their stage campaign on Sunday 14 November, with Ethiopia away to Zimbabwe in Harare and Ghana hosting South Africa in Cape Coast.
Ethiopia (0) 1 (Kebede 72’)
Ghana (1) 1 (A. Ayew 22’)
ETHIOPIA: Shanko, Bekele (Ayele 75’), Debebe, Hotessa, Kebede (Meleyo 75’), M. Mohammed (Sherefa 83’), Nassir, Tamene, Tunjo, Yesuf, Yohannes
GHANA: Wollacott, Aidoo, Amartey, A. Ayew (Fatawu 77’), J. Ayew (Ekuban 82’), A.B. Rahman, I.B. Mohammed, Boakye (Wakaso 61’), Kudus, Sulemana (Kyereh 78’), Yiadom.