The Black Stars of Ghana suffered a 4-1 defeat against the Blue Samurais of Japan in a highly entertaining friendly affair in the semi-finals of the 2022 Kirin Cup on Friday.
The home side who played at the famous ‘Noevir Stadium in Kobe took the game beyond a depleted Ghana side from the start of the game and managed to score two goals in both halves to emerge victorious.
The Japanese impressive run gave them the opener in the 29th minute when Takefuso Kubo and Ritsu Doan initiated a formidable move before setting up Miki Yamane who superbly drove the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal post.
Coach Otto Addo’s boys responded quickly with the equalizer in the 44th minute, thanks to Jordan Ayew whose brilliant shot from the edge of the penalty box beat 39-year-old goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima to find the back of the net.
Notwithstanding, the Black Star’s joy only lasted for two minutes as Kaoru Mitoma’s curler outside the penalty box rendered goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi helpless to give the Japanese the lead before halftime.
Back from recess, the Japanese introduced fresh legs and took full control of the game, and gave the West African giants a run for their money.
Real Madrid loanee Takefusa Kubo and Daizen Maeda added the third and fourth goals for the Asian side to bring the crowd standing on their feet again for the celebration.
The result means Black Stars will compete for the third-place prize when they play Chile on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Earlier, however, Tunisia defeated Chile in the game that ended 2-0.
Japan have now extended their head to head record to five wins
The team will also meet first-time entrant Tunisia in the finals to contest for the year’s title of the Kirin Challenge Cup.
