Ghana Black Stars suffered another painful 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Seleção of Brazil who played without Star man Gabriel Jesus.
The pre World Cup international friendly which afforded trainer Otto Addo the opportunity to try some new players who have been integrated into the team, exposed the weaknesses of the Stars.
The Stars, who looked so ordinary in both defense, midfield and attack in the early stages of the game, got punished as Marquinhos out jumped his markers to a free header from a corner.
In their desperate attempt to get into the game, the Stars became more fragile especially in the midfield and got punished on the 28th minute by striker Richardlison who had earlier missed from a close range.
The Tottenham Hotspurs attacker’s spectacular strike was enough to force the Stars to play according to the dictates of the Brazilians’ game plan forcing the Stars to chase shadows
Experienced Dennis Odoi who operated as the right full back needed more than rich experience to contain in-form Vinicius Jnr who kept terrorising him freely on the flanks
Richardlison caused more damage when he headed home from Neymar’s free kick which resulted from a tackle on Vinicius Jnr by Dennis Odoi.
Impressive second half performance
The Stars lifted their game after recess thanks to Otto Addo’s tactical changes which saw an improved Stars carried the fight to their opponents who had already taken a 3-0 comfortable lead in the first half.
Ghana’s brightest chance on the day fell to skipper Dede Ayew but his incisive header which threatened the world’s most successful national team, clashed the crossbar before flying over.
Inaki Williams & Mohammed Salisu to the rescue
Debutants Inaki Williams and Mohammed Salisu who replaced Afena Gyan and Kamal-Deen Sulemana respectively, immediately brought stability to the Stars.
While Inaki kept the left side of the Brazilian defense busy with swift ball control and deadly incursions, Salisu on the other hand stabilised the defense with two major clearances that saved the Stars from conceding further.
Otto Addo’s attempt to control the game
Having noticed the effects of his two changes earlier, Otto Addo effected more changes with the hope to control the game and possibly get a consolation or perhaps restore parity.
Toriq Lamptey, Elisha Owusu and Antoine Semenyo were introduced as Captain Andre Ayew, Mohammed Kudus and Dennis Odoi were pulled out while Kudus was substituted for Daniel Kofi Kyere.
However, their inclusion could not do the much anticipated magic as the former world champions rather grew stronger and looked more dangerous pushing the Stars back into their own half.
How Tite neutralised Otto Addo’s control
Tite neutralised the Stars threats with the introduction of Manchester United’s poster boy Anthony Santos, Madrid’s Rodrygo and Bremer who replaced Chelsea’s centre back, Thiago Silver.
Still poised to maintain his side’s dominance, Matheus Cunha, Everton Ribeiro and Fabinho were also introduced into the game and these tactical substitutions had immediate impact.
The Brazilians maintained at least 64% of possession and made 9 successful shot on target out of a total of 21 attempts.
The Black Stars on the other hand, made 7 attempts at goal but only 1 out of the seven was on target.
The last time minutes of the game was fully controlled by the Brazilians thanks to Teti’s game plan which did not include Star player Gabriel Jesus.
The former Man City danger man has been in top form since joining Arsenal but Teti surprisingly settled on Richardlison and snubbed Jesus.
Having assessed his side’s performance against the Seleção, manager Otto Addo is likely to parade a strong squad against Nicaragua on Tuesday in Spain.
