Ghana’s Sulemana Ties Up Australia

When she was growing up in Ghana, Memunatu Sulemana wasn’t allowed to play soccer.

“My mother didn’t like me to play football,” Sulemana said. “She said it was a man’s game. So whenever she told me to go buy something for her [at the store], then I ran away and played football.”

The young goalkeeper’s latest escape took her across the Atlantic, to the third FIFA Women’s World Cup, where she played well enough Sunday afternoon to help Ghana earn a 1-1 tie against Australia in front of 14,873 at Foxboro Stadium.

And what does mom think about that?

“She hopes I will bring money home,” Sulemana, 21, said with a grin.

It won’t be the World Cup, that’s for sure. Neither the second-best team from Africa nor the best team from Oceania produced the kind of soccer to suggest that they can make an impact in the tournament.

The Australians, who held a one-woman advantage for more than an hour, couldn’t finish the numerous chances they created. The Ghanaians, forced to defend for much of the game, lacked cohesion on offense.

The first goal didn’t come until the 75th minute, when Australian forward Julie Murray sprinted past three defenders before beating Sulemana from close range.

Ghana took less than two minutes to respond. Its best player, striker Vivian Mensah, forced Australian goalkeeper Tracey Wheeler into a full stretch to bat away a shot from the left, and Nana Gyamfua was on hand on the right to knock the rebound into the empty net in the 76th minute.

The Africans almost stole the game in the 90th minute when Elizabeth Baidu slammed a shot off the crossbar, but the ball rebounded safely away to the Australians’ immense relief.

Referee Kari Seitz of San Francisco red-carded Ghana midfielder Barikisu Tettey-Quao in the 24th minute because of a tackle from behind on Joanne Peters.

Australia should have taken charge of the game after that but failed to take advantage.

“Of course we’re disappointed,” Australia Coach Greg Brown said. “When you play against a team with 10 [players], they still have the same amount of defenders but as long as you keep to your game plan, you should get a result.

“I felt that we created enough chances to win three games.”

Instead, neither team won, a result that will please China, which now has a clear lead in the group after beating Sweden on Saturday.

“We fought until the last minute,” Ghana Coach Emmanuel Kwame Afranie said.

And no one more so than Sulemana, who no longer has to fight to play the game. Her mom would be proud.