Columbus Crew defender Jonathan Mensah has recounted Ghana's famous 2-1 win over the United States, 10-years ago in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Mensah, then 19-year-old teenager, played an instrumental role for the Black Stars as they secured victory against the Yankees.

The four-time African champions needed an extra 120 minutes to silence the Americans.

And Mensah, who has transformed himself from an inconsistent defender into a captain and the undisputed best defender for the Crew since joining the club in 2017 has recounted his experience 10-years ago.

“It was going through my head, ‘I don’t want to lose this game,’” Mensah said. “It felt like we played for four hours because it was so long for me.”

“I was like, ‘Goalkeeper, you got to save me here,‘” Mensah said. “All that was going through my mind was ‘Save it, save it, save it!’ ”

“The game was back-and-forth action, back-and-forth counterattacks, chances upon chances,” Mensah said. “Extra time, we had the upper hand to get that goal, but that game kind of like put Ghana on the map globally.”

“You play against the best, you become the best,” Mensah said. “It was important for me to have such great people around me and to have these kinds of people around you. It helps you learn, and automatically you learn from a place of timidity to a place of confidence,” he concluded.