Ghana star vows to bounce back
0 
Johannesburg - Striker Asamoah Gyan brushed off his last-minute penalty heartache and vowed to bounce back after Ghana lost to Uruguay and failed to become the first Soccer World Cup semi-finalists from Africa.
France-based Gyan had a chance to win a match deadlocked at 1-1 with the final kick of extra time after Uruguay striker Luis Suarez handled a Dominic Adiyiah header on the line to prevent a certain goal.
But Gyan crashed his penalty against the crossbar and although he netted in the shoot-out, goalkeeper Fernando Muslera saved two tame kicks and the South Americans won 4-2 to clinch a Tuesday showdown with Netherlands.
"I'll bounce back, I'm strong mentally. I had the courage to take the penalty, but that's normal as I'm the penalty taker," said Gyan.
"Now he (Suarez) is the hero in his country. The ball was going in, he stopped it and I missed the penalty. That's the way it is."
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez defended Suarez, who was red carded by the Portuguese referee only to celebrate in the tunnel after watching Gyan fail to give Africa a first World Cup semi-finalist.
"It was instinctive, he instinctively put his hand out to the ball and was red carded and will miss the next game," Tabarez said.
"He has paid for the consequences of his actions. He was not to know that Ghana would miss the resulting penalty. It is not fair to say that we cheated our way to victory."
Argentina and Germany reignite a great rivalry Saturday while Spain are expected to overcome Paraguay in the last quarter-final.
When they met at the same stage four years ago, hosts Germany went through 4-2 on penalties in Berlin after over-cautious Argentina left Lionel Messi on the bench.
"The players are thinking about going on to the pitch, in getting their revenge," warned Argentina coach and former midfield maestro Diego Maradona.
Germany will be boosted by the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Cape Town and coach Joachim Loew hopes his young team can impress her by riding the wave of beating England.
"There is a very positive feeling in the team. We have gained a lot of confidence from taking a victory against England. We have found weaknesses in the Argentine side, but I will keep that information for my players."
A Spanish concern is that Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has yet to find the net, but coach Vicente Del Bosque brushed aside any criticism.
"Fernando is our centre forward. He has put in a lot of minutes in four matches and will continue to do so and we have absolute confidence in him," the coach insisted.
Paraguay have not conceded a goal in three matches since a 1-1 draw with then reigning champions Italy in their opening group game.
But they have scored only three times, needing penalties to squeeze past Japan in the second round following a woeful 0-0 stalemate.
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk reacted furiously over suggestions that Arjen Robben cheated in the thrilling 2-1 defeat of Brazil in Port Elizabeth.
The midfielder was accused of deliberately diving to win a free kick which resulted in the Dutch drawing level with Brazil eight minutes after the break.
Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar came off his line to try and punch the kick clear but collided with Felipe Melo and the ball skimmed off the the head of the midfielder into the net.
In another match-turning incident, Melo was shown a red card for a stamp on Robben.
"Our opponents tried to provoke us more than we tried to provoke them. You could see that from the beginning," insisted Van Marwijk.
Copyright News24.com. Reprinting is not allowed without express, written permission.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments