. . . . . . The Daily Soccer . . . . . .

Bostrom Writes:
Should we fear Ghana?

Like all World Cup hopefuls, Ghana talks about wanting to advance out of group play. They certainly have a bona fide superstar in Michael Essien. But as far as their recent results indicate, they have a long way to go before instilling fear on the international stage.

Watching Ghana take on Mexico in Wednesday night's friendly (my TiVo chose Scooby Doo instead of the U.S./Poland tilt so I reverted to plan B), the match came across as a lone friendly played on U.S. soil with Lamar Hunt in attendance. In other words, it was an awkward game that took a while to get going!

I know Mexico well. I've seen countless of their games, I have several friends who live for Mexican soccer and I even watch the Mexican league about once a month. About all I know about Ghana is that they would like to add Freddy Adu to complement Essien. I'm sure we'll all be learning more about Ghana as the weeks roll by.

And in the runup to the WC, group opponents usually look progressively stronger and stronger as the months creep by. But in the case of Ghana, there's little evidence to believe that's actually the case.

I can say this: Ghana defended fairly well. While the Mexican attack was missing it's usual spark, it was hard pressed to mount a sustained attack until the second half. Certainly Ghana has the capability of scoring goals, but one gets the sense that at a high level of international play, they will need more than the usual amount of luck to produce consistent results.

In other words, I believe Freddy Adu could start for this team today. (Truth in advertising: I also believe Freddy should see the field at some point in Germany for the U.S., but that's for another post.) Ghana could rightly use his ability to both take on defenders and distribute the ball through an attacking midfield position.

While the U.S.'s offense also struggled mightily in Germany this week, I don't foresee the situation changing for Ghana due to their lack of international success as a team. The Mexican defense held strong even though it was missing likely WC starters. Essien declared himself happy with the result. But Lamar Hunt left at halftime which is all you really need to know.

Ghana's Grade: Incomplete. I still very much respect this team. I just didn't see a competitive game that could give me many clues as to their ability to succeed in the WC. Thus, I was left with feeling that if they couldn't muster up much in this game, they'll need a whole lot more to get out of their WC group of death