John Mensah: Ghana Could Have Beaten England

John Mensah believes Ghana passed the opportunity of becoming the first African nation to beat England after drawing 1-1 at Wembley on Tuesday night..

The entertaining game, which was the first meeting between both countries at senior level left an impression on the 80,102 crowd.

Asamoah Gyan’s brilliant stoppage-time finish earned the Black Stars a share of the spoils against England after Andy Carroll’s first half opener for the Three Lions.

Ghana proved a worthy match for England, who still remain unbeaten by any African side at Wembley.

The Black Stars were England’s eighth African opponent, following in the footsteps of Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Only three of those – Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt – have played at Wembley.

Despite Ghana’s entertaining display, Mensah insists the Black Stars could have made history though relieved that Gyan’s late strike prevented defeat.

Mensah told the Sunderland Echo: “I think we definitely deserved a draw from the game.

“But we could have done more because we are better than that. We didn’t show what we can really do.

“It was still a great result though, because we were a bit down after being behind at the end of the first half.

“But, second half, we came back with a good mentality and a determination to get something from the game.

“It was a great goal from Asa (Asamoah) – he struck it well after twisting and turning away from the defender.

“Normally he gets a lot of chances for us, but he took the one when he got it.

“He kept his focus and got the goal which was the most important thing.

“This was an important game with us playing England for the first time.

“The way the team played was really good.

“We showed great team spirit and it was important to put on a good performance in front of so many fans.”