Football: Ayew, Gyan star in Ghana win

LIBREVILLE: Ghana duo Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew lit up day eight at the Africa Cup of Nations to push the Black Stars virtually through to the knockout stage. Ayew, the BBC Africa Footballer of the Year, and Gyan earned the 2010 World Cup quarter-finalists a 2-0 win over Mali to leave them heading Group D on six points. However, the group will go down to the wire as any one of their three rivals – Guinea, Mali or Botswana – could still theoretically bag a last-eight place. “We had a few difficulties in the first half, but we changed tactics and put pressure on them to make mistakes in the second period,” said Gyan. Earlier, Guinea hammered Botswana 6-1.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2012.