Ghana Team - 2014 World Cup Betting
Best Finish: Quarterfinals, 2010
Manager: Akwasi Appiah
Captain: Asamoah Gyan
Key Player: Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus)
Group G: With Germany, Portugal and USA
Ghana is a team that just seems to keep getting better and better with every World Cup. In 2006, they made their first Cup and advanced out of a group that included the Czech Republic, Italy and USA, before being defeated by Brazil in the Last 16. Ghana one-upped this performance by beating the Americans in the Last 16 before falling to Uruguay in a close Quarterfinals loss.
The "Black Stars" are once again looking for a strong performance in the 2014 World Cup. They started their journey to this point by handling business in CAF Group D qualifiers with a 5-0-1 (W-D-L) record. From here, they faced Egypt in what figured to be a difficult two-legged playoff. However, Ghana dominated Egypt in the first game, winning 6-1 and all but booking their trip to the Cup. The Egyptians won the second match by a score of 1-0, however, this was hardly enough to make up the five-goal differential from the first leg.
Now that the Black Stars are in, they face a very difficult test after being placed in this year's "Group of Death." But there's hope for Ghana since they feature such a strong midfield. This midfield is led by Kwadwo Asamoah, who plays both the left-hand flank and center of the pitch. He's an excellent passer who really seems to be all over the field thanks to his electric energy. Two other players who'll join Asamoah to form an indomitable midfield include Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng.
This trio will be looking to feed the ball to striker Asamoah Gyan as frequently as possible. The Al Ain man tied two Egyptians for the CAF lead with six goals, and Gyan is certainly capable of adding more in group play.
While their striker and midfielders look strong, Ghana could struggle on the backside of the field. They've rotated both starting defenders and goalies over the past couple of years, failing to discover the perfect combination. So a lot of how well this team fares depends upon their back four and goalkeeping holding up.