2wo Stars fell on an Eagle

Ghana proved to Nigeruia that when it comes to soccer, there is a difference between pure guts and witt, and loud empty talk. "Agoro Eni fom" is the Ghanaian way of puttin it. For many this is the final before the final. And the game lived up to its billing. In the end Ghana proved their essence in the competition.

Gili hails Ivory Coast's composure in Guinea win

Ivory Coast coach Gerard Gili hailed his players' composure following their 5-0 thrashing of Guinea in the African Nations Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

The Elephants, who will meet either Tunisia or Cameroon for a place in the final, struggled until Didier Drogba scored the second goal on 70 minutes.

It was then all too easy for Ivory Coast, who added three within 13 minutes through a Salomon Kalou double and a Bakary Kone goal.

"It was a very complicated match until our second goal," Gili told reporters.
"Guinea was causing us a lot of trouble and until we doubled our tally, there was a chance for Guinea to equalise in a counter-attack," the Frenchman added.

Ivory Coast opened the scoring in the 25th minute with an Abdelkader Keita goal but then failed to convert their chances, with Aruna Dindane missing an open goal after dribbling past Guinea keeper Kemoko Camara.

"Somehow, we managed to be patient and my players held their composure. They were very thorough and I want to congratulate them for that," said Gili.

"The first half was hard," said centre back Kolo Toure, who was sitting on the substitutes bench"When we were 2-0 up, it became quite easy but before that, I can tell you it was very complicated."

Toure said he should be 100 percent fit again for Thursday's semi-final in Kumasi. (Editing by Rex Gowar)

Ghana 2 Morocco 0

Gyan brothers drop walkout threat

Ghana players Asamoah Gyan and Baffour Gyan threatened to walk out on the Black Stars in the wake of their unconvincing 1-0 win over Namibia.

BBC Sport has learnt the brothers had packed their bags and were ready to leave the team hotel on Saturday but were persuaded to stay by team-mates.Asamoah, 22, was booed during Thursday's match after missing several scoring chances for the host nation.

Some local radio stations in Accra strongly criticised him on Saturday.After hearing the sports discussion programmes, Asamoah decided to leave, and older brother Baffour joined him in solidarity.Asamoah plays for Udinese in Italy's Serie A.

Some radio stations had been going on all morning with personal attacks on Asamoah and in fact we are all sick of thisUnnamed Ghana playerGhana FA spokesman Randy Abbey denied any knowledge of the issue, but two players in the Black Stars camp have confirmed the incident to BBC Sport.A player who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity said: "We were shocked when we saw Asamoah and Baffour dressed up to leave the national team hotel.

"Some radio stations had been going on all morning with personal attacks on Asamoah and in fact we are all sick of this."Players and coaches came in and we ensured that they stayed with the team."The threat from the Gyan brothers came just a day after Asamoah made an emotional appeal to fans of the Black Stars over Thursday's taunts.Asamoah said: "I'm very sad because Ghanaians know what I can do on the field. The downfall of a man is not the end of his life.

"I have played 22 games for my country and scored 15 goals at my age."So if things are not going well, I expect encouragement from the fans, not criticism."I am working on my play and I will find my rhythm. If things go well it will be better for the team and Ghanaians as well."The Black Stars have been unimpressive despite winning their opening two games in Group A of the tournament.
Source:Ibrahim Sannie for BBC Sport