Heroic Abdul Manaf Nurudeen saves two penalties to help Ghana grab 3rd Place in Kirin Cup
Goalkeeper Abdul Manaf Nurudeen became the hero of the day as his two penalty saves helped a 9-man Black Stars to beat Chile in the Third Place encounter of Kirin Cup Soccer Tournament in Japan.
A 0-0 scoreline after regulation time followed by a 3-1 victory over the South Americans ensured Ghana ended the tournament with smiles, but its Nurudeen’s two heroic saves that grabbeed the headline on Tuesday.
This was after Alidu Seidu and Mubarak Wakaso were both red-carded in the second half as the game extended into penalty shootouts.
However, goalkeeper Manaf Nurudeen produced a stunning performance in the shootout to help Ghana triumph 3-1 on penalties.
Abdul Manaf saved the two penalties while Chileans miss their third spot kick.
Ghana on the other hand scored all their three, through Jordan Ayew, Mohammed Kudus and Fatawu Issahaku to grab a much deserved win.
Otto Addo rang the changes against Chile, with Nurudeen, Benjamin Tetteh, Andre Ayew and Felix Afena-Gyan returning to the starting line-up.
The Black Stars played with very little urgency in the first half but upped their game in the second half and took the game to the Chileans.
Benjamin Tetteh and Andre Ayew tested the Chilean goalkeeper, while Afena-Gyan also went close a couple of times.
Ghana’s momentum, though, was sapped when Seidu Alidu was sent off following a tackle that was adjudged by VAR as dangerous.
Wakaso was the next to be shown a red card after receiving a second yellow card for ostensibly harassing the referee.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Otto Addo’s side held on to take the game to penalties, where they triumphed 3-1 in the shootout.
Beating Chile sees the Black Stars finish the Kirin Cup on high notes following last week’s disappointing 4-1 defeat to Japan.
