Kolkata: Five years ago, Benjamin Asare was asked to consider retirement after an ankle injury had kept him out for 18 months. Had he not listened to his heart that day, Ghana wouldn’t have been able to pull off a 0-0 draw against England on Tuesday.
Only four African nations before Ghana have kept clean sheets in their first two World Cup matches – Cameroon (1982), Morocco (1986 and 2022), and Nigeria (2014). And to think of it, Asare wasn’t even considered for the national team until last March, following a forgettable African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Ghana’s plan against England was ridiculously simple. “Our plan was to block and frustrate them from the first minute,” Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said. “We did it.”
While the defenders and midfield largely stuck to the plan, for 90 minutes in Foxborough, it was essentially Asare who stood between England and perfection. England finished with 19 shots to Ghana’s two. They enjoyed almost four times as much possession before half-time and didn’t allow Ghana a single attempt in the opening 45 minutes.
Calm when England increased the tempo, authoritative when crosses arrived and decisive when the pressure became relentless, Asare inspired belief in his side with every save. England’s first effort on target arrived in the 57th minute, when Anthony Gordon forced Asare into action after a spell of sustained pressure.
Ultimately, Asare made six saves. This, on top of keeping four clean sheets in five World Cup qualifiers, means Asare is already a story by himself. “Usually, I don’t like to talk. Never, never. I avoid talking about individual players,” Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said. “But I think he deserves applause. He was brilliant.”
Asare isn’t the only one though. When Vozinha produced a performance of defiance earlier in the tournament, it felt like a familiar World Cup story – a goalkeeper from an unfancied nation refusing to accept the script.
Two weeks into the tournament, it no longer feels like an isolated reaction. This World Cup is becoming a celebration of goalkeeping, of resistance, of the final line of defence taking it upon themselves to keep hopes alive.
Lionel, but Mpasi
After Asare it was the turn of DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi who was talismanic for 75 minutes, pulling off eight saves, until he gave in to a beauty of a goal against Colombia.
Born to Congolese parents and raised in France, Mpasi played all his junior football away from his country of origin. A product of the PSG academy, Mpasi made his Ligue 1 debut only this January-hardly the stuff of dreams before coming to one’s first World Cup, that too as backup keeper.
“If I get the chance to play in a World Cup, having made it to the highest level in France and getting my first minutes in Ligue 1 this year, then I could say that I’ve done everything I wanted to in football,” Mpasi had told Fifa.com in an interview. “If I reflect on everything I’ve been through, I have a lot to be proud of.”
But he outdid himself. For 75 minutes, Colombia subjected DR Congo to an examination that bordered on the absurd. They attacked from every angle, creating chances at a rate rarely seen in this tournament. By half-time they had taken 14 shots. Daniel Munoz had already seen a goal ruled out for offside. Nine of Colombia’s ten outfield players would eventually register an attempt on goal. The expected outcome seemed obvious. Mpasi had other ideas though.
He became the first goalkeeper since Jamaica’s Warren Barrett against Argentina in 1998 to make five saves in the first 20 minutes of a World Cup match, the shots on target became a record in this World Cup. Colombia were dominating but not winning, Congo were hanging on but beginning to believe. Then came the moment that encapsulated Mpasi’s evening.
In the 64th minute Juan Fernando Quintero spread the ball to Johan Mojica on the left. The full-back delivered a cross that appeared destined to drift into the far corner. But Mpasi stretched out a hand to divert it away before recovering instantly to punch clear the resulting corner.
It was as far as he could have bent the game. So relentless were Colombia that they eventually found a way through. Munoz was again at the forefront this time, supplied by a clever through ball from Jhon Cordoba. Munoz paused, took aim and swept a low finish beyond Mpasi at the near post through the smallest angle possible. On a day Mpasi was parrying everything that came his way with his hands, feet and body, so soft was that goal that it felt like a gentle prick to his accumulating pride.
Congo went down, but they still aren’t out. Having held Portugal before, they can still potentially qualify if they win against Uzbekistan. It could have been worse. Had it not been for Mpasi, Colombia could have been 3-0 ahead at half-time.
That’s how great goalkeeping can make a difference even when the odds are stacked against a team. Vozinha showed the blueprint, Asare used it to frustrate England, before Mpasi nearly denied Colombia.