Ghana 2008 - Match Analysis - Ghana vs Guinea

Pienaar led the way as Namibia
thwarted the efforts of the Black Stars, giving strikers Asamoah Gyan and Junior Agogo little space to operate.

The only the time the Namibian defenders lost concentration was in the 41st minute when Quincy Owusu broke free with his pace before crossing for Agogo to bundle the ball in.

The Brave Warriors regained their alertness the Pienaar and his rearmen were resolute on the hour mark forcing Gyan to shoot wide from inside the box.

Namibia's defender also managed to quell Sulley Muntari's quest to drive in from outside the box as on two occasions the Portsmouth midfielder was crowded out before he could unleash his powerful long-range drives.

Even though Ghana saw most of the midfield action where Michael Essien was operating for the Black Stars there were occasional counter-attacks from with Collin Benjamin and Brian Brendell coming close on two occasions.

Teenage midfielder Andre 'Dede' Ayew admits that Namibia surprised them by putting up a brave fight.

"We said before the game that we were not going to underrate and Namibia proved us right by making things very difficult us," Ayew said.

"They refused to open up like they did against Morocco and also they managed to mark our strikers which didn't help matters."

"Today I am happy that my players responded from the 5-1 defeat because they listened to the conversation we had about the Ghana team," Shcans said.

"We didn't allow them to do what they normally do with the ball and that frustrated them and hopefully we can do the same in our next game against Guinea."

Namibia, who are yet to secure a point after two matches will play Guinea on Monday while Ghana need a draw against Morocco to advance to the knock-out phase of the competition.

The Black Stars, tipped as favourites for this tournament, may have won the game but with the unimpressive showing by their strikers in their opening two matches, the Black Stars should be considering their position as potential title winners.