World Cup Qualifiers: Ghana 3 Tanzania 2

ACCRA, April 23 (Reuters)(DS) - Ghana 3 Tanzania 2 - result. World Cup African zone first round, second leg qualifier

Scorers: Ghana - Osei Kuffuor 20, Augustine Arhilful 27, Dan Addo 63
Tanzania - Nteze Lungu 42 Maulid Hassab 51
Halftime: 2-1; Attendance: 30,000
Ghana win 4-2 on aggregate

Daily Graphic: Stars snail into group qualifiers

By Maurice Quansah
A casual-looking Black Stars team yesterday limped into the final group stage of the World Cup qualifier after beating Taifa Stars of Tanzania 3-2 at the Accra Stadium in an uninspiring performance that saw the Ghanaians fighting for survival in the latter stages of the game.
The Black Stars' disappointing outing at the 2000 Cup of Nations left an air of despondency surrounding the Ghanaians, and their drab performance yesterday failed to win back confidence in them, as many doubted the team's ability to survive the final qualifying stage where there would be much more formidable opposition.
Fielding as many as nine Europe-based players against a frightened bunch of Tanzanians, Ghanaians hoped for a goal haul, especially after beating the East African side 1-0 in their own backyard without the full compliment of their foreign-based professionals.
By the 12th minute, Ghana had come close to breaking the deadlock on three occasions, with Augustine Ahinful making a mess of some good chances.
However, the team waited until the 19th minute to open the floodgates through an unlikely scorer, Samuel Osei Kuffour, who headed in a measured cross by skipper Charles Akonnor deep in the Tanzanians' half.
The visitors tried to organise themselves into the game but appeared somehow timid and na?ve, failing to punish the Stars for several defensive blunders, even though their build-up looked very impressive.
Barely seven minutes after the Bayern Munich defender put the Stars ahead, Ahinful compensated for his earlier misses with a beautiful shot from 20 metres, which zoomed into the net to increase the Stars? aggregate to 3-0.
Somehow, complacency sunk into the Stars' game and allowed the visitors to take control of the game as though they rather had the territorial advantage.
Ghana's duo of Daniel Addo and Mark Edusei lost control of the midfield to the Tanzanians by the 35th minute and created cracks within the Stars' defence, as shortish Issah Kassim ran at his markers, who found it difficult keeping to his pace
Just when they lost ground, John Nteze stunned the stadium into graveyard silence through a spectacular 30-metre drive that zoomed past goalkeeper Richard Kingson, to reduce the deficit in the 43rd minute.
The Stars? coach Giuseppe Dossena pulled out Peter Ofori-Quaye for Felix Aboagye at the resumption of the second half and it looked as though some urgency had returned into the Stars game, as they went on rampage again.
Tanzania's German coach Burkhard Pape may have inspired some confidence into his boys during recess as they began matching the Ghanaians boot for boot.
In the 51st minute, top striker Maulid Saidi Hassan punished Ghana for some slack defending by Kingson who failed to make a safety-first clearance and lost the ball to an opponent, who put Hassan through to equalise.
Just as Ghana began living dangerously, Addo, who many were agitating for his removal from the game, turned saviour by scoring the Stars' third goal, finishing off a pass by Aboagye.
Somehow, Tanzania's naivety in front of the Stars goal undermined their efforts at scoring, after ripping the defence apart on several occasions.
Dossena turned to Hearts of Oak's crowd favourite Charles Taylor and Edmund Copson to help rescue his side from embarrassment, but they found themselves in the midst of big-name players who failed to work as a unit.
STARS: R. Kingson, E. Dugbatey, S. Kuffour, S. Johnson, J. Nettey, D. Addo/E. Copson, Y. Owusu/ C. Taylor, M. Edusei, C.K. Akonnor, P. Ofori-Quaye/F. Aboagye, A. Ahinful.