On Saturday June 26, 2010 the national team of Ghana beat the United States of America in a memorable thriller at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa. Ghana having qualified from the eight-group stage is the only survivor among six African nations.
Folks in South Africa, other parts of the continent and the Diaspora rallied around the ‘Red-Gold-and-Green as vuvuzela kept blared non-stop. It was a tense encounter that will be remembered by many all over the world. Truly, the USA put up a spirited fight, coming back to equalize after a dramatic Ghanaian 1-0 lead. American, Landon Donovan scored a penalty in the 62nd minute. That sent the clash into extra time. Ghana, nicknamed Black Stars, got the winner in ‘overdrive over time’. It came off striker Asamoah Gyan. The Ghanaian fended off two US defenders to blast the ball past US keeper Tim Howard, some five minutes into extra time. Goal! It was 2-1 and it stayed that way till the end of the 120-minute duel.
Although President Nelson Mandela could not be at the match, the 91-year-old ‘Madiba’ must have been there in spirit; even as he mourns the recent passing of his dear granddaughter. It was refreshing also that President Bill Clinton was there, cheering the USA. How about this: both himself (Clinton) and current US president Barak Obama have – during their respective tenure - visited Ghana, in western Africa.
Black Stars have by this victory qualified for the quarterfinals, the second ‘knock-out’ stage. They play Uruguay, the South American nation that took out Asian giants South Korea 2-1 earlier that same day.
Cameroun (1990) and Senegal (2002) are the two other teams from Africa who have reached the quarterfinals phase of the FIFA World Cup.
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