If Carlsberg did International friendlies....

England vs Ghana, Tuesday 29th March, Wembley

There seemed to be a great deal of optimism surrounding this fixture since England returned from Cardiff on Saturday. At first it seemed like it would be a traditional English victory against weaker opponents on home turf, after Ghana had to travel over 4,000 miles after their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo last Sunday but with the backing of approximately 21,000 Ghanaians, Ghana grabbed a wholly deserved equaliser in the 90^th minute through a classy Asamoah Gyan strike.

Ghana decided to field a strong side, most of whom played in their quarter final World Cup match against Uruguay last summer, to match England's strength in depth, with the likes of Asamoah Gyan and Sully Muntari starting for the Black Stars. Fabio Capello however, decided to allow 5 players from Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur to leave the England camp and return to their respective clubs because of preparations for the Champions League fixtures next week. This left a largely inexperienced side, one which involved Andy Carroll for only his 2^nd England cap, Gary Cahill and Stewart Downing. There were some regular players in the side though, with Gareth Barry (who captained England for the first time under Capello. In fact, he also was the first Manchester City player to captain England since Colin Bell in 1972!), Jack Wilshire and Glen Johnson all getting a start.

It was also a good day for Danny Welbeck and Matt Jarvis, who both grabbed their first caps for England after coming off the bench late on. Carroll also grabbed his first England goal in only his 2^nd appearance which gave England a first half lead. It was a good performance from England, with many players giving a good account of themselves and giving Fabio Capello a possible selection headache for the future. We shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves though, and Capello will have no worries in choosing who will play in central defence when John Terry and Rio Ferdinand come back into the fray, after Joleon Lescott's and Phil Jagielka's average performances, to put it nicely.

The early stages of the match were played at a frantic pace, with both England and Ghana putting in high energy performances, and Ghana were determined not to just come and sit back and allow England to play. They wanted to be the first African team to beat England. Their best chance came in the 27^th minute, just 2 minutes after Ashley Young hit the bar from close range. Dominic Adiyiah was the man with the chance, and he forced a very good save out of Joe Hart. There weren't many more chances, apart from Carroll's goal a few minutes before the half time whistle, and a slight chance for Gyan, but the Sunderland hitman couldn't get his feet sorted quick enough and the chance was gone.

Coming out for the second half, Ghana started the better, passing and moving with a style that we saw often in their World Cup campaign last summer, and after an hour gone Fulham's John Pantsil was deflected marginally over the bar. Their equaliser which came in injury time was thoroughly deserved, and the Ghana team celebrated in typical style, a dance in front of their fans! This game was a breath of fresh air to international football and Fabio Capello, and one that was needed on the day that Qatar played Russia, two teams who won bids suspiciously to host the World Cup in 2018 and 2022.