Poor Ujfalusi. He had the sort of match you don’t want to have broadcast across the globe, at fault for Asamoah Gyan’s very early goal and then guilty of conceding a penalty that got him sent off. Gyan could not convert the spot-kick, so the Czechs strove until 10 minutes from time, when Sulley Muntari killed the contest.
One lesson this tournament has taught its spectators is never, ever to arrive late for a fixture. Five of its goals had been scored in the first six minutes before last night. Ghana improved on that by a distance, taking a lead with just over 60 seconds gone.
They won a corner, Petr Cech punched it clear of the penalty area from where Stephen Appiah pumped a cross back. Ujfalusi thought he had it covered but made such a hash of his header that he fell in a heap. The ball dropped nicely for Gyan, who cushioned it down with his chest and placed a left-footed volley beyond Cech.
The Czechs had come to Cologne with the wind in their sails, three points and three goals on their Group E balance-sheet after a surprisingly comfortable 3-0 victory over the United States.
Injuries have undermined the Czechs a little, especially in attack, where Milan Baros was absent yesterday, as was Jan Koller, the mammoth centre-forward who is out for an uncertain period with a muscle tear.
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Happily for Czech football, the 6ft 7Åin Koller was replaced by the 6ft 5in Vratislav Lokvenc. He was not to be policed by Sammy Kuffour, Ghana’s most experienced defender. After errors in the 2-0 defeat by Italy, he was left out of the starting XI. Also out was PSV Eindhoven’s Eric Addo. Ghana’s more illustrious names, evidently, are not sacred here.
Lokvenc was not Ghana’s principal concern as the Czechs sought to bounce back. Pavel Nedved and Tomas Rosicky were. Nedved contributed to the electric start by zipping a centre across goal, but found nobody in the middle to meet it.
Nedved and Rosicky are both happy to collect the ball from deep and press the accelerator hard, though the Arsenal man has the sharper change of pace.
Nedved threatened with a forceful drive at Richard Kingston, while Jaroslav Plasil put a longer effort over the bar. By half-time Karel Poborsky had also put a shot wide and Rosicky just missed the target with a volley, struck on the run from Poborsky’s cross.
It had been a riveting first 45 minutes, the Czechs with more of the ball, but Ghana the greater threat to score. Gyan was a persistent handful for Ujfalusi, his neat, angled pass putting Amoah beyond the defender and meriting a more polished, urgent response. Cech was then obliged to cut out a shot that Gyan perhaps ought to have placed higher.
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The Czech Republic briefly thought they had made as precipitous a start to the second half as their opponents had done to the first. Nedved headed in a Poborsky free kick, but then saw the raised flag of the assistant referee. Lokvenc, behind Nedved when the cross came, looked offside, Nedved’s case was more marginal.
Come the hour, come the drama. Ghana had just begun to exploit the spaces an 11-man Czech team were leaving in their search for a goal, when they became one fewer. Ujfalusi’s trip on Amoah denied the striker a promising attempt at goal with only Cech to beat.
Once referee Horacio Elizondo had awarded the spot-kick, he took counsel from his assistant about further punishment, and a rather bizarre few seconds ensued.
Elizondo located Ujfalusi to give him his red card, and not seeing this, Gyan promptly took the spot-kick and converted it. He was then booked for not waiting for authorization, and promptly hit the post with the legitimate penalty.
Gyan’s miss did not prove crucial. The outstanding Muntari made it safe, despite Cech’s repeated heroics, and a long night of drumming was guaranteed for the city of Cologne.
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STAR MAN: Sulley Muntari (Ghana)
Player Ratings: Czech Republic: Cech 8, Grygera 7, Rozehnal 5, Ujfalusi 4, Jankulovski 6, Poborsky 6 (Stajner 55min, 7), Galasek 5 (Polak h-t, 6), Rosicky 8, Plasil 6 (Sionko 68min, 6), Nedved 7, Lokvenc 5.
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Ghana: Kingston 7, Pantsil 7, Mensah 7, Shilla 7, Mohamed 6, O Addo 6 (Boateng h-t, 7), Essien 8, Appiah 7, Muntari 8, Amoah 7 (E Addo, 80min, 6), Gyan 8 (Pimpong, 85min, 6)
Referee: H Elizondo (Argentina)
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Attendance: 48,000