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Brighton defender Tariq Lamptey believes the Black Stars early departure from the World Cup will motivate the team to even work hard for subsequent tournament.

The Black Stars were eliminated after the first round of the tournament following a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay. A game Lamptey missed.

The Brighton and Hove Albion right-back made two appearances at the World Cup, coming on as a second half substitute against Portugal before starting and excelling against South Korea.

Lamptey, who switched nationality to Ghana in June played no part as the Black Stars suffered a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay at the Al Janoub Stadium.

After defeating South Korea in their second group game, the Black Stars needed a draw or win against Uruguay to advance to the last 16 stage.

But the team failed to negotiate for points against their ‘enemies’ Uruguay.

In a post sighted by Footballghana.com, the enterprising right-back asserted their exit from the tournament will motivate them to work harder for future tournaments.

“I thank God for this moment and the opportunity we have been given, we would have liked things to have turned out differently but Godstiming is best. We’ll use this as more motivation and work even harder”

“A big thank you to everyone for all the support, really appreciate it” he t

We will be back stronger this is just the start” he tweeted.

The Black Stars will now focus on the remaining qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

France beat Poland 3-1 in a record-smashing World Cup last-16 clash on Sunday that saw Olivier Giroud become France’s outright all-time top scorer and Kylian Mbappe score a magnificent double.

France were relentless on the attack as they pushed for an opening goal but could not unlock a sturdy Poland until just before the break when Mbappe played a pin-point ball through to Giroud, who hammered it past a diving Wojciech Szczesny to claim his 52nd goal for Les Bleus.

Holders France continued to press after the break, with Giroud almost netting a second when he flicked Jules Kounde’s cross just past the near post. But Mbappe did not miss in the 74th minute, unleashing a missile from just inside the penalty area that shot into the top corner.

Mbappe was not done, adding a second goal in stoppage time with another screamer to seal the win and take his total for the tournament to five.

Poland got a consolation goal from a Robert Lewandowski penalty.

France will next face the winners of the England versus Senegal game, being played later on Sunday.

©Reuters

Lionel Messi scored his first goal in a World Cup knockout round in his 1,000th match to beat Diego Maradona’s tournament tally, as Argentina beat off a frenzied Australia fightback to win 2-1 on Saturday and reach the quarter-finals.

Messi his side ahead after 35 minutes with a coolly taken low strike for his 94th international goal, passing the great Maradona’s eight World Cup goals, in a match where he was instrumental in almost every Argentine attack.

Julian Alvarez made it two near the hour mark after pouncing on a howler by keeper Mat Ryan to set up a mouth-watering last-eight clash next Friday with the Netherlands, who beat the United States 3-1 earlier in the day.

With nothing to lose, the Socceroos, chasing a first World Cup quarter-final berth, pulled a goal back 13 minutes from time when Craig Goodwin’s wayward shot took a huge deflection off Enzo Fernandez and flew into the net for an own goal.

Messi spurned two clear chances late on but it was Australia’s teenaged substitute Garang Kuol who set hearts racing in the stadium when deep into stoppage time his close-range shot on the turn was brilliantly saved by Emi Martinez.

The Australia bench had their heads in their hands as the final whistle blew moments later, sparking fervent celebrations from the Argentina squad and roars around the packed Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

Man of the match Messi admitted the final moments were tense.

“Things got complicated in the end with their goal but it’s a World Cup and it’s never easy,” Messi said.

“Now we have a really tough clash with Holland, who play very well. They have great players and a great coach, it’s going to be hard-fought.

“If a World Cup has been tough from the start, it gets even tougher at this stage.”

MESSI MAGIC

Argentina took a while to find their stride in a physical match that started off scrappy, with Alejandro Gomez, Fernandez and Alvarez combining well but unable to break down a resolute defence as Messi struggled to make his mark.

Australia had a chance from a corner when towering defender Harry Souttar leapt high in the area but headed tamely.

Lifted throughout by the overwhelmingly Argentine support, which cheered, sang and bounced in unison from all sides of the stadium, Argentina finally made the breakthrough after 35 minutes with Messi the creator and finisher of a superbly worked goal delivered at breathtaking speed.

He took a free kick then picked out Alexis Mac Allister, who passed to Nicolas Otamendi to tap gently back into the path of Messi, who fired low into the corner and beyond the reach of the outstretched Ryan.

Argentina got their second close to the hour after a huge back-pass blunder from Ryan, who came under pressure from Rodrigo De Paul and was robbed of the ball by Alvarez, who turned and slotted home.

Australia refused to give up and launched a succession of threatening moves that rattled an Argentina side whose attention was focused more on their own attacks.

After Goodwin’s deflected shot went in there was a real prospect of extra time in a stadium where the Socceroos had booked their World Cup place via a penalty shootout win over Peru in an intercontinental playoff earlier this year.

They pushed forward relentlessly and nearly equalised when Aziz Behich darted dangerously into the area before a brilliant saving tackle by Lisandro Martinez.

Argentina tried for a third goal, with Lautaro Martinez firing wide and Messi coming close before Australia substitute Garang Kuol missed with seconds left in stoppage time.

“We took it to them. I felt that we finished off well. We had a great chance at the end there to equalise,” said Australia coach Graham Arnold, who described Messi’s performance as “incredible”.

“I’ve got to be very, very proud of the boys.”

Argentina defender Nahuel Molina said the win was all about Messi. “It’s a privilege to play with Messi, with him on the pitch we know that we just need to be patient because he is our ace in our sleeves.”

Source: Reuters

Ghana midfielder, Mohammed Kudus, believes it will be cheap to blame Andre Ayew for the Black Stars’ elimination from the 2022 World Cup.

The Ghana captain had an early penalty saved by Sergio Rochet before Uruguay scored twice in six minutes to beat the Black Stars 2-0 on Friday at Al Janoub Stadium.

The defeat means the 2010 quarter-finalists’ campaign was over while the win was not enough to see the La Celeste also make it to the knockout phase.

Speaking after the game, 22-year-old Kudus granted a mature interview diverting blame from the underfire Ghana captain.

“The easiest thing we can do is to blame one person [for the elimination] or whichever,” Kudus said. “In the second half, I also got chances that I could have scored; some could be qualified as a penalty also, so we all had chances to have an effect in the game.

“I don’t really think the penalty has an effect on the whole performance. Andre is a great leader and a great captain.

“After the penalty miss, he was still in the game, and stood up for the whole team like everyone did, but the result went the other way, so we learned from it and stay positive.”

Otto Addo, whose reign as Ghana coach was ending after December, confirmed his exit at his post-match press conference.

Source: Joy Sports

Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries set up their first two goals and netted a decisive third to ensure a 3-1 victory over the United States on Saturday and a spot in the World Cup quarter-finals, thwarting U.S. efforts at a late comeback.

Dumfries ended any hopes the Americans had of staging a rescue act after they had gone 2-0 down at halftime, tucking away a third goal for the Dutch that made sure of their victory and put the seal on an influential personal performance.

The United States had cut the deficit through Haji Wright in the 76th minute, but their hopes lasted just five minutes before Louis van Gaal’s team wrapped up the win to set up a clash with Argentina or Australia, who were playing later.

The Dutch looked in command of the opening last-16 tie in front of a 44,846 crowd with two goals scored in similar fashion as Dumfries crossed from the right for Memphis Depay to net in the 10th minute and then Daley Blind on the stroke of halftime.

But they allowed the Americans back into the contest as substitute Wright scored a bizarre goal, a cross from Christian Pulisic hitting his heel and looping into the net.

It was another Dutch performance at the Qatar World Cup that will not please their demanding supporters as they were unusually cautious at times, played at a slow tempo, and lived dangerously by allowing the Americans plenty of possession.

Yet they still looked a notch better than their opponents — advancing to their seventh World Cup quarter-final

“We want to improve and every game it’s getting a little better, that’s my feeling,” said Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk. “We had two fantastic goals. What else do you want? And we had that goal against us, I have no idea how it went in.”

UNBEATEN RUN

Cody Gakpo and Dumfries cleared off the line in the second half and goalkeeper Andries Noppert made several saves as the Netherlands extended their unbeaten run since Van Gaal returned as coach last year to 19 games.

They survived an early scare when Pulisic found himself free, and onside, with just the goalkeeper to beat but Noppert, the tallest man at the World Cup, stuck out his left leg to deny a shock opener.

The response from the Dutch was swift. A series of 20 slick passes ended with Dumfries squaring the ball from the right into the path of Depay, who delayed his run into the penalty box and was unmarked as he smacked home the opener.

The lively start was quickly replaced with a more languid passage of play, the Netherlands sitting back as they waited for counter-attack chances.

That presented opportunities for the U.S. with Noppert forced to save again from Timothy Weah’s driving shot and Sergio Dest breaking through the defence but unable to get the ball out from under his feet and missing a good chance before halftime.

Those misses were swiftly punished as the Dutch broke again down the right and scored a carbon copy of the first goal when Dumfries pulled back his cross for 32-year-old left back Blind to score in his 98th international.

“This is a difficult one to handle.” said U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. “It’s such a good group of guys, such a close group of guys, and we came up short today but not for a lack of trying, not for a lack of effort.”

©Reuters