Ghana teach Egypt a lesson

Ghana took a huge step towards reaching their third straight World Cup finals by thrashing Egypt 6-1 in the first leg of their 2014 play-off.
Asamoah Gyan thumped in the opener and it was 2-0 after Michael Essien’s run led to an own-goal from Wael Gomaa. Egypt’s Mohamed Aboutrika scored a penalty but Majeed Waris headed in to make it 3-1 and Gyan headed another.

A Sulley Muntari penalty and a late strike by Christian Atsu put Ghana in total control of the tie.
The match had been billed as the tightest of the five African play-off ties that will decide who will make it to next year’s tournament in Brazil.

But it is now almost guaranteed that the Black Stars will be on the plane to South America after a huge win in Kumasi.
The tension had been ramped up during the build-up to the tie because Ghana had written to Fifa asking for the 16 November second leg to be switched from the Egyptian capital Cairo because of safety fears.

With the venue for that match still uncertain, Ghana wanted to earn a healthy advantage from the first game at home and they set about achieving it by sprinting out of the blocks at the Babayara Stadium.

If Ghana make it to Brazil they will be only the fourth African side to qualify for three consecutive World Cup finals
Gyan had a clear chance to put the hosts ahead inside 20 seconds but he hit his shot straight at Egypt goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy from 12 yards out.

The Black Stars skipper had only a few minutes to dwell on his miss before he was put when Waris touched on Essien’s pass and the former Sunderland striker turned with pace and struck a smart low shot into the far left bottom corner. Egypt, who came into the game with a 100% record in qualifying – the only African side to do so – appeared stunned and despite having nine players from the same club, Al Ahly, were totally disorganised.

Kwadwo Asamoah let fly with a fierce drive that was beaten out by Ekramy and shortly after the Egyptian keeper made another fine save, diving low to his left to push out Waris’s header, as Ghana threatened to completely dominate their opponents.

A second goal looked inevitable and it came after Essien left two defenders on the floor during a mazy run and, just as the Chelsea man appeared to have tried too much, the ball ricocheted off Gomaa into the Egyptian skipper’s own net. – BBC Sport.