Ghana's No Goner - They're Champions

It’s not often that I watch anything regarding Ghana on TV. It’s not often that I watch athletes younger than me on TV. It’s not often that I watch penalty kicks determine a final on TV. Heck, it’s almost a miracle in and of itself that soccer was even on TV. Earlier this afternoon, I was blessed with the opportunity to see all of these.

In case you missed it, the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup just took place in Egypt. Over the last few weeks, the globe’s best soccer players born after 1988 have been competing on one of twenty-four different teams. From the Czech Republic to the Korea Republic, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates, from Tahiti to Italy, these athletes who aren’t even old enough to drink played in front of thousands in attendance and millions more on television as representatives of their country.

Now I can’t sit here and claim that I followed this intently. Since the US didn’t even make it past the group stage (thanks to 3-0 losses to both Germany and Korea Republic – but at least we beat Cameroon), I’ll use that as my excuse for not tracking this event.

But today was different.

I turned on ESPN after a long day of class and waiting in line at the post office. U-20 World Cup? Ghana versus Brazil? Really? And just to reiterate, this was not on ESPN2 or some other obscure sports channel; this was on the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports. That aside, one can’t be too surprised when they see a Brazilian squad in any kind of soccer final regardless of the age, but Ghana was a bit of shock. The ultimate outcome would prove to be even more of a shock.

How did the Ghanaians get there though? Well, by beating both England and Uzbekistan and tying Uruguay in the group stage, the Black Satellites (the team’s nickname) advanced to the knockout stage of sixteen. Once in the bracket format, they squeaked by South Africa, the Korea Republic, and Hungary all by one goal to meet Brazil in the final in Cairo. It may not have been the most convincing tear but it was good enough to get them there.

Another admission: I didn’t watch the whole match. I saw the first few minutes and didn’t tune again until towards the end of regulation. Much to my surprise, they were sharing a goose egg on the scoreboard when the first ninety minutes were up. That’s when the fun started. Under these circumstances, FIFA rules call for a fifteen minute extra period. With a 0-0 score going into overtime, solid defense had been played throughout and the goalkeepers, Brazil’s Rafael and Ghana’s Daniel Agyei, did their best stonewall impressions in the first extra period.

Whoops, did I just hint that they were once again tied after one and had to go onto a second extra period? Well, now I did. Tension, emotion, and the number of leg cramps were high by this point. Ghana’s scrappy play and relentless attitude made them sentimental favorites against the international powerhouse. Oh, and by the way, Ghana had been playing a man down since the 37th minute due to a red card. Yeah, pretty impressive that they were still competing at such a high level.

Brazil’s talent and abilities gave them plenty of chances to put it away, but Agyei just would not give it up to them. Towards the end, it seemed like the best thing the Brazilians had going for them was their female fan that ESPN cut to for a prolonged amount of time. Despite her attractiveness though, the largely African crowd persuaded me to root for their continental brethren as we headed for a penalty kick shootout after 120 goalless minutes.

After their first two opportunities, Brazil and Ghana were (surprise, surprise) tied with a pair of goals each. Brazil finished the third series with an advantage after a make and then a save by Rafael. With the game now in their control, Brazil once again didn’t make the most of it and had their next one blocked. Suddenly, neither team could find the back of the net as Ghana came up with a consecutive miss.

It was the final penalty kick for each team and Brazil was up 3-2. Up first with a chance to put it all away with a goal, Brazilian striker Maicon wasn’t even close on his attempt; it sailed right over the goal. It was the tournament’s leading scorer with eight goals, Ghana’s Dominic Adiyiah, turn. His young career could be defined by this moment right here. His team, his nation, and his newest fan watching from Minnesota were on the edge of their seats. He walked up and put it in the left corner with such ease that you almost have to wonder if he was aware of the pressure situation.

Bring on sudden death penalty kicks. There’s no way Brazil could miss three straight PKs in the clutch, right? Wrong. Alex Teixeira went up and became the victim of yet another great save by Agyei. After that, similar to Adiyiah, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu calmly approached his shot like he was warming up for an intramural game at Ghana State. It was in. Game over. Ghana wins. They became the first African country to hold the trophy at the end of a U-20 World Cup.

Chances are that I will hear these Brazilian names again in the next four years or so and I don’t know what the likelihood is of the Ghanaian players making it back into my stream of consciousness is, but for this afternoon I can say that I saw the world’s best young soccer players and no one can refute that. With nothing but the future ahead of them, Adiyiah’s, Agyemang-Badu’s, Agyei’s, and their teammates’ persistence and resilience should carry them well the rest of their way. Who knows, maybe irony will take command and bring them back to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.