Ghana had an emphatic victory over Zambia in London in an international friendly. Both teams were without several key players because of visa problems, and Zambia only arrived in the UK on the morning of the match.
The Black Stars stomped to a 4-1 win after 45 minutes at the grounds of English League One side, Leyton Orient in game that Ghana clearly dominated.
The scoring opened after 11 minutes, Inter’s Sulley Muntari converting a cross from close range. It was two when Hichani Himonde volleyed an embarrassing own goal half an hour in. Zambia rallied. The energetic Given Singulumu played in clubless Stopilla Sunzu, who blasted into the top corner to pull a goal back.
But the game was sealed with five minutes of the first half remaining when Dennis Banda conceded a penalty on Inkoom. He was sent off and Junior Agogo converted. Haminu Draman ended the first half with a fourth goal.
Reduced to 10 men, Zambia defended manfully in an insipid second half, which Ghana strolled through. After the game, Zambia failed to attend the press conference, where Ghana manager Milovan Rajevac had polite words for his weak opponents.
Rajevac was able to have a look at some regular squad members and made several changes in the second half with goalkeeper William Amamoo, Stephen Appiah, Kwame Quansah, Chris Dickson, Gladson Awako and David Telfer all given some minutes.
Appiah’s introduction saw Michael Essien relinquish the captain’s armband to the midfielder.
Zambia finished the game with ten men after Dennis Banda’s tackle drew the red card from referee Andre Mariner.
Despite seeing his squad suffer from injuries and visa acquisition problems leading to pull outs, Rajevac would be delighted with the positives picked up from the game which served as a preparatory game ahead of the 2010 World Cup qualifying next month.
The Black Stars’ next World Cup Qualifier is against Sudan at home.
The friendly win against Zambia, however, has provided Rajevac a good opportunity to see how his squad is shaping up for the upcoming qualifier.
Starting team: George Owu/William Amamoo, John Paintsil, Harrison Afful, Eric Addo, Francis Dickoh, Anthony Annan/David Telfer, Michael Essien/Gladson Awako, Samuel Inkoom, Haminu Draman/Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari/Chris Dickson, Junior Agogo/Kwame Quansah.
In other matches, Tunisia drew 0-0 with Ivory Coast, Mozambique beat Swaziland 1-0, Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen started his new job with a comfortable victory 2-0 win over Austria, Bafana Bafana went down 3-1 at home to Serbia.
