Ghana V England: Key Battles In The Epic Clash

The epic clash between Ghana and England at Wembley tonight.

By Frank Ossei Kwame

With Ghana finally getting the chance to play their colonial rulers England in an international friendly tomorrow at the Wembley magnetic edifice, euphoria has reached a fever pitch among football loving Ghanaians on one side but the shine seems to have been shrivelled to some extent because of Fabio Capello’s decision to release some of the Three Lions’ established stars.

The Italian manager has released Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Michael Dawson, and Ashley Cole to their respective clubs and now the onus falls the likes of Gareth Barry, Jack Wilshere and Ashley young to pitch their strength against a hungry and a youthful Ghanaian side still basking in their world cup quarter final feat.

With the match set to come off tonight at Wembley and many Ghanaians still anticipating many battles on the field, Daily Guide Sports has been drawing the battle lines among some of the stars who are expected to lit up London.

ASHLEY YOUNG VRS DAVID NII ADDY

Ashley Young who plays for Aston Villa is one of the brightest English prospects and it came as no surprise when he got involved in all the two goals England scored against Wales over the weekend and he is the main reason why Tottenham Hotspurs’ Aaron Lennon is a fringe player at the national team level. He is also a free kick specialist and has power in both feet.

The speed merchant has pace as his asset whiles Porto loanee David Addy’s worst enemy is pace especially when defending. Addy has a sweet left foot and is very dangerous when going forward but very lethargic and indolent with his recovery and this makes his duel with Young dicey but his recent performance for Athletico Coimbra has been sparkling combining defensive duties well with offensive missions. Addy has to resort to man marking instead of his usual Gael Clichy like zonal marking since the jet wheeled Young will always come on him if he let loose of him.

GLEN JOHNSON VRS ANDRE AYEW

Andre Ayew’s rich vein of form for club Olympic Marseille has received plaudits this season but the son of the Maestro Abedi Ayew Pele says he is yet to fulfil his potentials.  He has battled with many established right full backs and terrorized them. At the world cup in South Africa, Philip Lahm of Germany revealed how is very difficult to play against Andre and Branislav Ivanovic, Glen Johnson’s former teammate at Chelsea also told Eurosport that it was always a nightmare to defend against Andre.

Now he comes up against Glen Johnson who is atrocious when defending but very good on the offensive. He is very good on the long balls with his eyes always on Ashley Young but Andre has to be on him throughout the entire duration of the game so as to stifle one of their main attacking outlets.

JACK WILSHERE VRS ANTHONY ANNAN

The two players have something in common and that is their diminutiveness but the sharp contrast is Annan is an established star for the Black Stars with forty one caps whiles Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere just completed his third cap for the Three Lions of England. Wilshere is a player known for his passing, dribbling, vision, movement and combination play and has received plaudits from Own Coyle of Bolton Wanderer’s for his gritty nature saying his ability to “tackle and take a knock”, despite his lack of height makes him a complete player but Annan is always used as a cover for the back four though he can play in anywhere in midfield. He is a player who has never flop in national colours and his ability to tackle without receiving cards will make his battle with Wilshere awesome.

GARY CAHILL VRS ASAMOAH GYAN

Cahill, 25 is a well drilled English Premier League defender and a typical English centre back who uses his height very well but his battle with Sunderland’s hit man Asamoah Gyan promises to be a mouth watery spar. Gyan has already exposed much touted defenders like John Terry, Nemanja Vidic, William Gallas and Per Metersacker so playing against Cahill who is not an established star for the Three Lions will be no problem at all. Cahill though has been awesome this season sometimes abandoning his defensive duties to score goals from set pieces but he is somewhat uncomfortable whenever under pressure and with Asamoah Gyan’s blistering form in the Premiership where he settled in quickly and tallying 10 goals in all competitions for Sunderland, Cahill after the game will savour his third cap for England with grief.

DARREN BENT VRS JOHN MENSAH

Bent asked John Mensah what he should expect when the friendly match date was announced last year and the Ghanaian told him to anticipate a tough battle against each other. Bent is now at Aston Villa from Sunderland but will reignite the few battles they have had at the Sunderland training grounds at the Wembley tonight. Mensah is good on one on one whiles Bent is handy with the ball at feet and reconciling this makes it difficult where the pendulum of fortune will switch to but with the unpredictable nature of Bent sometimes squandering sitters, John Mensah who seems to have gotten over his injury woes has the upper hand in this tricky duel.

FABIO CAPELLO VRS GORAN STEVANOVIC

Both were midfielders during their respective careers but Capello is twenty years older than Plavi who was coach at Partizan Belgrade. Both Managers are having their first managerial stints at the national level. Fabio Capello might have reached the twilight of his coaching career after coaching almost all the biggest clubs in Europe and having his career littered with trophies but Ghana’s Serbian Tactician is on of the up and coming coaches who are familiar with modern technologies of the game.

Ghana’s probable line up: Richard Kingson, John Paintsil, David Addy, John Mensah, Isaac Vorsah, Anthony Annan, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, Kwadwo Asamoah, Andre Ayew, Asamoah Gyan and Prince Tagoe.

England’s probable line up: Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Jeloen Lescott, Gareth Barry, Scott Parker, Ashley Young, Jack Wilshere, Darren Bent, Jermaine Defoe