Christopher Opoku, Head of Sports at Metro TV, rates Ghana’s players.

Player ratings

Richard Kingston: 6.5/10 – Did not have too much to do but showed alertness to bail out his defenders on a few occasions. Showed full concentration by plucking a lobbed ball from underneath the bar towards half time.

John Paintsil: 5.5/10 – Was solid as usual but apart from the long throwing, could not put in enough decent crosses on the overlap. Solid but unspectacular.

Hans Adu Sarpei: 4.5/10 – For all his tactical awareness, lack of pace is beginning to affect him and it clearly showed in this game when the Sudanese players kept attacking down his side. Luckily for Ghana, Sudan could not deliver quality crosses.

John Mensah: 6/10 – Led by example from the back and had to do a lot of covering for Isaac Vorsah, who was uncharacteristically troubled by pace.

Isaac Vorsah: 5/10 Uncharacteristically shaky during the match and let a few balls pass him by. Was protected by his captain by his side.

Anthony Annan: 5.5/10 – Struggled to build a partnership with Bernard Kumordji and was lost a bit in the first half. Improved in the second half and was actually pushing forward.

Bernard Kumordji: 4/10 – A rare start for the Panionios star and he failed to grab it with both hands. Left most of the tackling to Annan and failed to make any impression on the game. Little wonder he was hauled off.

Jordan Ayew: 5/10 – Started well but inexperience showed. Would probably been better coming off the bench. Tired and was taken off.

Andre Ayew: 5.5/10 – Was given little joy down the left but plugged away nonetheless. Improved a bit after moving to the right but at times showed a little too much individualism.

Kwadwo Asamoah: 5/10 – Tried hard to support Gyan but at times tried too hard. Was better after being moved down the left but not a good game by his high standards.

Asamoah Gyan: 4/10 – Played as if he had other things on his mind. Apart from a turn and shot in the first half, he failed to really trouble the Sudan backline, partly due to lack of service. Was sent off late on.

Subs

Prince Tagoe: 3/10 – Was brought on to support Gyan upfront but proved largely ineffective.

Emmanuel Clottey: 3/10 – Came on determined to do something on his debut but ended up doing little.

Emmanuel Agyemang Badu: 4/10 – Brought verve back and probably should have started, but couldn’t do too much in the time he was on.

Coach Kwasi Appiah: 3/10 – failed to read the game sufficiently enough to take decisions and seemed to be unable to inspire the boys because ghana played with no real urgency after the break.