Five Things We Learned From The England Versus Ghana Friendly

Ghana celebrate their last minute equaliser

The speculated team selection for Tuesday night’s friendly between England and Ghana at Wembley was certainly met with it’s fair share of criticism and detractors.

People felt that if the supposed “reserve” team was put out, then they would be cheated out of good value for a game they will have paid good money for.

This is an understandable view point to take, if someone is to pay a hefty fee to watch a football game, then it is only natural to expect that this would be rewarded with a strong team selection.

However, the other side of the argument suggests it is not necessarily a perfect hypothesis whether or not the “big name” would be playing, but whether or not the quality of football being played is high and entertaining in terms of action. And so it was, that those in attendance may have felt they were treated to a good game of football, certainly the 20,000 Ghanaian supporters will testify to that, making the most of the occasion for what was an entertaining match that Ghana deserved to take something from and came away with a 1-1 draw. And as such, here are five things that can be taken away from the game.

1) Fabio Capello was right in his decision

Regardless of the criticism Capello received for deciding to play a “weakened” team, there is a clear argument that he was justified in doing so. Considering a qualifier had been contested merely days before, it provided the perfect opportunity to see how other members of the squad would fit in to his set up. When looking at the bigger picture, he has a large squad at his disposable, and they are there to be used and if not worth the risk in qualifying games then a chance to get some minutes under their belts against an opposition of quality in Ghana is certainly not an opportunity to be missed.

Despite critical comments of this from members of the Ghanaian team, Capello must make the best interests of his squad as top priority and for all this, fans were treated to an entertaining game, even if  Ghana were the stronger team in the second half.

2) Danny Welbeck is still eligible to play for Ghana

It is fair to say that when Welbeck was introduced with 10 minutes to go, the resulting reception from the Ghanaian faithful was frosty at best, understandably. It is only natural to feel betrayed when one nation is chosen over the other. Although, according to FIFA laws, if he were to change his mind then he would be perfectly entitled to play for Ghana, as this was only a friendly, if he is still eligible to choose between the two nations for which he could represent. Of course, United fans will have wanted to see more of a contribution from the loanee but unfortunately that was not the case as he was unable to make his mark in the 10 minutes he was given.

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