Saturday 21 June 2014 22:57, UK
Kwesi Appiah admitted his pride at Ghana’s performance despite his side squandering their lead to draw 2-2 with Germany in Group G.
Clear-cut chances were scarce in the first half, but the game soon sparked into life after the break when Mario Gotze stooped to meet Thomas Muller’s cross and bundle the ball home to open the scoring.
But Ghana soon hit back as Andre Ayew leapt to power Harrison Afful’s cross beyond Manuel Neuer before Asamoah Gyan raced through on goal to fire them into an unlikely lead.
Miroslav Klose then stepped off the bench to equalise from close range and level Ronaldo’s World Cup record of 15 goals in the process, but Appiah hailed the spirit of his men.
"It was a great game. Germany are a big team but I think our boys did well," he told the BBC.
"We created a lot of chances that could have made the day but, unfortunately, we could not utilise our chances.
"We needed time to fight to the end. It’s a bit unfortunate that it ended this way but I think on the whole it was a very good game."
Ghana have never failed to make the last 16 of a World Cup tournament, but they will now need to beat Portugal in their final Group G game to stand any chance of doing so.
Portugal, who were brushed aside 4-0 by Germany in their opening game, take on USA next and Appiah will be keeping close tabs on that encounter.
He said: "I know Portugal are a very good team, like the USA. It’s going to be a decent game.
"But saying that, we will wait and see how it goes tomorrow."
Striker Asamoah Gyan also echoed Appiah’s sentiments as he saluted the performance which earned a shock point with Germany the strong favourites entering the game.
"We believed in ourselves, even against a top side like Germany. We had to just respect them and fight them to the end of the game," he said.
"We came close when we got it to 2-1. It was a great game. We gave ourselves a couple of chances.
Speaking of his goal which put Ghana ahead, he said: "I was just waiting for my chance. I had a couple of chances in the first game, I was a bit nervous today. I just had to get my composure.
"As a striker, people expect me to score goals and that is what happened today.
"It was great work. Tactically, we were perfect today. They are good in possession, we know we don’t need to waste our energy.
"We believe that after what happened today, we can beat Portugal."
