How the Ayew brothers stole the show

Jun 22, 2014

In the build-up to Ghana’s World Cup Group G fixture against Germany at the Castelao Arena, all focus had been directed to the Boateng brothers.

By Fred Kaweesi in Sao Paulo

Group G result

Ghana 2 Germany 2

In the build-up to Ghana’s World Cup Group G fixture against Germany at the Castelao Arena, all focus had been directed to the Boateng brothers.

The hype surrounding this engagement was triggered by sentiments between Jerome and Kevin-Prince.
 

How the two had avoided each other in the run up to the game with Kevin-Prince even ridiculing the Germans as a ‘weak’ outfit.
 

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Ghana's midfielder Andre Ayew (C) heads to score

But interestingly, it’s another set of Ghanaian brothers –the Ayew siblings –that enjoyed the moment and influenced the direction of the game after the two Boatengs had been replaced by both Germany and Ghana.
 

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Ghana's forward and captain Asamoah Gyan (C) scores

In 2010, the Boatengs became the first siblings in World Cup history to have played against each other.
 

Jerome represented Germany while Kevin chose to change nationality, a condition allowed by FIFA, after the German FA (DFB) had shown no interest him.
 

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Ghana's forward and captain Asamoah Gyan (R) celebrates with teammates after scoring

He was considered a bit too much of an independent spirit for Germany’s liking.
 

As a result, Jerome was recommended to the Germany national team by Matthias Summer.

 

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Ghana's midfielder Andre Ayew (C) is congratulated by teammates after scoring
 

Jerome is not tactically astute as Prince but Mathias felt he could be molded into a ‘great’ German player.
 

Unfortunately, the Germans are yet to see that ‘great’ player from even the current generation in the German team as it took a veteran striker in Miroslav Klose to roll back the years and rescue them from a shocking defeat at the hands of Ghana.
 

With Germany trailing the Black Stars 2-1, Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger changed the game after coming on the pitch in the 69th minute.
 

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Germany's forward Miroslav Klose (topR) scores during a Group G football match between Germany and Ghana

Klose snatched the all-important equalizer with his first touch less than two minutes later to avert what would have been a damaging defeat to Germany’s prospects in the group.
 

Although the 36-year-old striker stole through the headlines after equaling Brazil striker Ronaldo’s 15-World Cup goal record, the story of this fixture was more about Ghana and the Ayew brothers.
 

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Germany's forward Miroslav Klose celebrates after scoring

It was about the Black Stars charismatic approach to the game, character, tactical astuteness and defiance even after Mario Goezte had put the Germans ahead with a downward header that came off his knee before beating Fatawu Dauda in the Ghanaian goal.
 

“When you have an African team in front of you, you know they’re very strong and very fast. For the spectators, it must have been exciting to watch such an intense game,” Germany coach Joachim Loew told the media here.
 

Loew had spent the entire evening demanding better from his side.
 

He looked rattled after Andre Ayew out-leaped Per Mertesacker in the German defence to meet a Harrison Afful cross for the equalizer.
 

At this stage, the Black Stars, just as in South Africa 2010, were enjoying full support from the host country.
 

They then took the lead after Asamoah Gyan out-paced the German defence before firing a right foot shot past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
 

Had Ghana converted all the chances that followed thereafter, the story could have been different.
 

While the Ghanaian fans celebrated Andre Ayew's majestic performance on the evening, his sibling Jordan was busy crafting an unwanted script.
 

He missed three glorious chances –including a possible match-winner.
 

Jordan later told the media that he had apologized to his teammates in the dressing room.
 

“After making that long solo run, I was so tired when I got to the goal area. I didn’t make any mistake but when they told me I made a mistake, I accepted it and apologized to the team in the dressing room,” Jordan stated after the game.
 

Germany, who are top of the group with four points, after hammering Portugal 4-0 in their opening fixture, face the United States in their final group match in Recife on Thursday, while Ghana, with one point, play Portugal in Brasilia.
 

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