Left and Ghana Way

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not that well versed when it comes to the sport of soccer, but I have recently been swept up in World Cup fever.

I'm not the soccer expert on the I'll Be Frank staff, but I'll give a recap of the U.S./Ghana game a go.

So we start the game off with the respective national anthems.

The Star Spangled Banner plays and then is followed by the soundtrack from the Lion King.



As has been par for the U.S. during the 2010 World Cup, they give up an early goal and find themselves in an early hole.

Ghana scored in the 5th minute when Kevin Prince Fielder Boateng stripped the ball from American Ricardo Clark and then beat goalkeeper Tim Howard from 16 yards. The ball managed to slip past an out of position Howard and slide inside the short-side post. Soft goals like that are only seen in New Jersey during the NHL playoffs.

Not too much else exciting happened between the first goal and halftime. The U.S. seemed to be dominating play, but couldn't managed to sneak a goal past Ghana's goalie Sean Kingston. Too be honest I thought he was Jamaican.





ABC kept airing shots of Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger in a luxury box. Only can imagine what they were talking about.

You remember that intern I had? Well I did have sexual relations with her. HAHAHA










Guess what mate, me too.












You know what Mickey, you have nice volumptious lips like Angelina Jolie. I'd sure like that Lara Croft to search for my hidden totem pole, if ya know what this hound dog is sniffin'.









Billy you are bloody hilarious. I'm British and I know nothin about futbol. But I come to these matches to try and catch a glimpse of that one Spice Girl who fancies soccer fans.








Oh you mean Posh Spice. I think she's married to that Becker guy that had a T.V. show. Yeah he must be a big soccer fan, he is always sitting on the team's sidelines. But when it comes to Spice Girls I was always a fan of that Scary Spice.








Ah, brown sugar how come it tastes so good.










Brown sugar just like a young girl should.












As the second half began, the U.S. once again seized control of the ball and the game. It was almost like Ghana was content with not having possession of the ball. Finally the refs started sharing the yellow card wealth and penalizing the Black Stars.

Yes, Ghana is called the Black Stars, presumably due to the fact that they have a black star on their flag.




Rapper Deuce AKA Clint Dempsey was pulled down trying to streak in on net, and the U.S. was awarded a penalty shot. I don't know what is more impressive, his on-field play or his flows on the mic.




Landon Donovan, America's savior from the Algerian game, lined up his shot against Sean Kingston. Kingston anticipated towards his right, Donovan shot the opposite way. The ball clanked off the post and into the back of the net to tie the game. Replays show Donovan's face as the ball hit the post; his heart definately skipped a few beats as that ball was in the air.


As play continued, Ghana spent more time on the grass than Snoop Dogg at a Dave Matthews concert. They seemed more fragile than Greg Oden at a Steve Smith run flag-football game.

Was it me did it look like Ghana's coach had just gotten back from a 5-day bender. His hair was dishevled, clothes wrinkled, tie drooping below his collar. He looked like Nick Nolte after he resigned from Western University and got arrested for DUI.




Regulation time and stoppage time expired and the scoreboard read 1-1.

Because we are now in the knockout stage, there has to be a winner and a loser so draws no longer come into play. In order to determine a winner, two 15-minute overtime periods will be played followed by a round of penalty shots if necessary. For this game, it wouldn't be necessary.

Three minutes into overtime, Ghana's Asamoah Gyan took a long pass from teammate Andre Ayew, split U.S. defensemen Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit, took the ball off his chest and placed a left-footed shot just above the hands of goalkeeper Howard for what would prove to be the deciding goal.

The U.S., who had become accustomed to last minute heroics, never gave up and mounted a frenzied run at the Ghana net during the last few minutes of play. At one point the U.S. even employed Howard as an offensive weapon during a corner kick, which almost equated in a tying goal.

The effort was there, but the result was not. America's dream of World Cup glory came to and end as the final whistle blew, and the last African nation in the tournament celebrated.