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Before the penultimate World Cup round of 16 match, the Brazilian national team, defending the title of winners, defeated the Ghanaian footballers with a score of 3-0 and secured their ticket to the quarterfinals with their 11th consecutive victory in the tournament. In a fierce match, both teams created many dangerous attacks, but the Africans, playing quite courageously, had to admit the mastery of the Brazilians. Today, around midnight Lithuanian time, the Brazilians will find out their opponents in the quarterfinals. They will be either the French or Spanish footballers.
Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund, 65,000 spectators Referee - Lubos Michel (Slovakia) Brazil 3 - 0 Ghana 5` [1 - 0] Ronaldo 45+1` [2 - 0] Adriano 84` [3 - 0] Ze Roberto
Brazil: Dida, Cafu, Lucio, Juan, Carlos, Emerson (45` G.Silva), Ze Roberto, Kaka (Ricardinho 83), Ronaldinho, Adriano (61` Juninho), Ronaldo.
Ghana: Kingson, Pantsil, Shilla, Mensah, Pappoe, Draman, E.Addo (60` D.Boateng), Appiah, Muntari, Amoah (Tachie-Mensah 69), Gyan.
The Brazilian national team started the match more powerfully and in the 5th minute showed why they are considered favorites of this World Cup. After a pass from Kaka, Ronaldo ran out alone against the goalkeeper and fooled him to send the ball into the Ghanaian net. This was Ronaldo's 15th goal in World Cups, surpassing the German Gerd Muller as the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the tournament.
Early Brazilian goal seemed to inspire the South Americans, and in the 12th minute, Adriano had a great opportunity to score, but he and Ronaldo failed to finish the attack as they tried to fool Kingston - Adriano's attempt to deceive Kingston was unsuccessful, the Brazilian fell in the penalty area, but referee Lubos Michel did not award a penalty kick and cautioned the player for simulation.
After this attack, Brazil's dominance ended. Ghana took control of the ball and had a couple of good opportunities to score, but they failed to do so. Attacks ended with inaccurate passes or weak shots.
In the 29th minute, Ronaldinho, on the left side of the attack, saw an open corner of Kingston's goal and tried to shoot, but the goalkeeper managed to keep out the attempt. With four minutes left until the end of the half, the Black Stars had perhaps the most real opportunity to score, when after a corner, a few meters from the goal, John Mensah headed the ball towards Dida's leg.
However, all Ghana's efforts were wiped out by another Brazilian goal. In the first minute of added time, after a great pass from Cafu into the penalty area, Adriano sent the ball into the net, and even though it seemed like the player could be offside, the sideline referee did not raise the flag, so the first half ended with Brazil holding a solid advantage. Meanwhile, Ghana's players left the pitch having missed two goals and received four yellow cards.
In the second half, the Africans took control of the ball. However, their attacks were far from reaching the Brazilian goal. Meanwhile, the South American representatives tried to take advantage of these Ghanaian mistakes and turn them into fast attacks. In the 56th minute, Brazil created a quick attack - after a precise pass from Ronaldinho, a shot from R. Carlos, who had penetrated the penalty area, had to be repelled by R. Kingson.
In the 69th minute, the Black Stars had a real chance to score, when Asamoah Gyan's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. After ten minutes, the same Gyan launched a fast attack. Beating the defender, the forward shot, but his attempt was easily stopped by Dida.
In the 81st minute, Asamoah Gyan fell in the penalty area, but the referee treated this step by the Ghanaian striker as simulation and one of the team's leaders was cautioned. Moreover, it was the player's second yellow card, so the Black Stars were left with ten men.
After Gyan was sent off, the world champions took the initiative, and in the 84th minute, they capitalized on their numerical advantage, when, after another quick attack, the Brazilians defeated the Ghanaian goalkeeper for the third time. After a pass from Ricardinho, once again one-on-one with the goalkeeper, Brazilian Ze Roberto passed the ball past Kingston and scored into an empty net to seal Brazil's victory.
As the match neared its end, Brazil created another dangerous attack. During the lightning-fast Brazilian attacks, Ronaldo's shot had to be saved by Kingson, and in the final minute, Juninho's precise pass confused the Ghanaian defenders, but Cafu's shot was weak and did not cause major problems for the Ghanaian goalkeeper.
At the start of extra time, another opportunity arose during a beautiful pass from Ricardinho, but Juan failed to beat the goalkeeper. After a hard-fought battle, Brazil won convincingly, and Ghana was forced to end their appearance in the tournament.
