China hold Ghana 1-1 to progress to quarterfinals
(fifa.com)
Updated: 2005-09-23 09:58

Mubarak Wakaso made an electrifying run down the left flank and his intelligent cross was met by Charles Boateng and Chi dived low to his right to save well.

Ghana emerged early for the second half and went into a huddle on the halfway line to draw inspiration from each other for the decisive period ahead. It seemed to do the trick as they took the lead 11 minutes after the restart, Agyemang making a surging break down the left and his centre was turned on by James Tagoe for Bukari to stab the ball in - and this time the goal counted (1:0, 56').

China's reply was almost instant though as they drew level courtesy of an excellent lobbed effort by Xuanhong Wang on the hour mark (1:1, 60').

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(ACTION IMAGES)

Undeterred, Ghana battled back strongly and came within centimetres of retaking the lead with a freak effort by Mubarak Wakaso as Chi raced out to block his shot only to see the ball take a bizarre ricochet off Wakaso and smash against the upright.
A cheeky back-heel by Agyemang then set up Emmanuel Adjetey in acres of space, but he blew a fantastic opening by thrashing his shot high over. Bukari then lofted the ball past Chi but failed to keep his effort low enough as Ghana pressed hard for a second goal to keep them in the tournament.

Under immense pressure, China resorted to cynical time-wasting tactics with a full 15 minutes to go and the fans were not slow to let them know exactly what they thought about those techniques.

As if responding to their criticism, China then launched an exciting counter-attack, with Xu Yang playing a neat one-two with Jie Huang before firing over the top.

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