Good afternoon and welcome to the live text commentary of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Ghana this evening.
The Black Stars and the Bafana Bafana will at 16:00GMT lock horns in a crucial Group G encounter that neither side can afford to lose.
Although Ghana already sits top of the standings of the group, coach CK Akonnor and his charges know the qualifiers will get tougher as it progresses and hence have set sight on fighting for the win today.
For South Africa, the Bafana Bafana only picked a draw from their opening match in the qualifiers when they played against Zimbabwe last Friday.
Hoping to avoid a difficult setback in the qualifiers, head coach for South Africa Hugo Broos has rallied his players to show desire and battle to defeat Ghana later today.
With the stage set for players to take to the field of the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, the footballghana.com team builds up to the crunch meeting between the two countries.
🗒 | The team for today's #WCQ against South Africa, kick off: 4pm.
🇿🇦 v 🇬🇭 #WCQ2022 #BlackStars #BringBackTheLove pic.twitter.com/Yos16reCz8
— Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) September 6, 2021
Update:
Derrick Kafuli Kasokota from Zambia will replace his compatriot Janny Sikazwe as Referee for this evening’s match against South Africa. Mogos Teklu Tsegay from Eritrea will be the fourth official.
Off to the Stadium 🏟
🇿🇦 v 🇬🇭 #WCQ2022 #BlackStars #BringBackTheLove pic.twitter.com/n1ZGdOzM5t
— Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) September 6, 2021
Kick-off:
1' We are off at the FNB Stadium with Ghana kicking us off for this evening's encounter.
2’ Early exchanges see the visitors winning a free kick in a dangerous area after Joel Fameyeh is brought down.
4’ Mubarak Wakaso sends a powerful drive from the free kick. His effort goes straight the goalkeeper who gathers comfortably.
7’ Both sides get to settle in here at the FNB Stadium. A few hard tackles here and there but game has been fluid so far.
10’ Gideon Mensah seeing more of the more in the first 10 minutes. Scoreline remains goalless.
13’ Yaw Yeboah goes down wailing on agony. He earns a deserved free kick. Solid performance from the referee so far.
17’ No way for South Africa means the Bafana Bafana are forced to play most of the football in their own half.
20’ Promising attack by South Africa results on nothing. Tracking Gideon Mensah chests down for Jonathan Mensah to boot the ball to safety.
23’ Ghana shows glimpses of quality with Yaw Yeboah and Mubarak Wakaso cheekily showing skill to attract fouls on different occasions in the last two minutes.
25’ South Africa enjoying the better share of possession at the moment. The build up remains slow with the Black Stars defense proving tough to break down.
28’ It’s a corner kick for South Africa as we approach the half hour mark. Percy Tau takes but his curling delivery is well dealt with by the strong Ghana defense.
30’ South Africa 0-0. We have done 30 minutes of the first half. Can either side get on the scoresheet before the break?
31’ South Africa wastes a begging chance. That could have easily been a goal for the home team.
35’ Emmanuel Lomotey is brought down in the middle of the field. It will be a free kick for Ghana.
36’ Goal!!! South Africa scores through Percy Tau. No wait. Celebrations are cut short as the referee whistles for an offside.
40’ we are into the last four minutes of the first half. Ghana yet to step up to threaten the hosts.
43’ Ghana enjoying more of the ball as we approach halftime. Unfortunately the team is unable to penetrate the South Africa defense.
45’ we will do just a minute of injury time.
Halftime: The first half of today’s contest ends in a goalless draw. The battle is far from other at the FNB Stadium. We are back after 15 minutes for the second half action.
Second Half:
46’ we are back underway at the FNB Stadium for the second half of the game.
47’ Chance!! South Africa with the beat chance of the game. The ball goes through the legs of goalkeeper Richard Ofori but Ghana is fortunate not to concede.
50’ Injured goalkeeper Richard Ofori is able to continue after receiving medical attention.
52’ Foul for Ghana as the center referee is forced to issue the the first yellow card of the game.
55’ South Africa breaks on a counter attack but Gideon Mensah is there to clear the lines for Ghana.
58’ Joel Fameyeh goes on a brilliant run but is unable to cause any harm.
60’ That will be all the action he will see in this game. Fameyeh leaves the field and is replaced by Kwame Poku.
63’ South Africa continues to push into the half of Ghana in search of a much needed goal. Scoreline remained goalless with more time on the clock.
70’ Andre Ayew comes off for Samuel Owusu. Looks like CK Akonnor is looking for the win with this change.
72’ Midfielder Majeed Ashimeru is down injured. He will be stretched off to receive medical attention.
75’ Change: Goalkeeper Richard Ofori is unable to continue in post. He will be replaced by Lawrence Afi-Zigi. Meanwhile, South Africa has also made a double substitution.
77’ Change: Majeed Ashimeru off. Baba Idrissu in.
82’ Goal!!! South Africa takes the lead with less than 10 minutes to play.
85’ It’s been a tough match for this uninspiring Ghana team. There is no indication the team can come back into the game with a goal.
88’ We are just just two minutes away from fulltime.
90’ we will do 3 minutes of additional time.
Full time: it’s all over here at the FNB Stadium. South Africa with a deserved 1-0 win against Ghana to go top of Group G.