It was a move Ghana had repeatedly drilled throughout its World Cup buildup, and after a night of missed chances, it finally paid off.
In the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, Caleb Yirenkyi finished from close range after a low cross from Brandon Thomas-Asante, sealing a 1-0 win over Panama on Wednesday in both teams’ World Cup opener.
Thomas-Asante broke free down the left and drove the ball across the face of goal, where Yirenkyi arrived to tap in from close range, triggering celebrations as teammates rushed to embrace both players.
“Get the ball to the wings, and then put it in the box, and we get runs, people in the box to finish,” said the 20-year-old Yirenkyi, who scored his first international goal earlier this month in a friendly against Wales. “I tried to play forward and keep running, and hope to see what comes in. I got the ball in the box and finished.”
Ghana played without midfielder Thomas Partey, who was denied entry into Canada while awaiting trial in England on rape charges.
The late goal denied Panama its first World Cup point.
The match’s only shot on target in the first half came two minutes in, when Panama forward Cecilio Waterman latched onto a low cross from Amir Murillo and clipped a shot from the center of the box toward goal. Lawrence Ati-Zigi dove to his right and pushed it away.
The goalkeeper went off at halftime after several heavy collisions and was replaced by Benjamin Asare. Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said Ati-Zigi would be assessed further on Thursday.
The result puts Ghana top of Group L alongside England, which beat Croatia 4-2 earlier in the day.
After the first hour, when chances were limited in rainy conditions at BMO Field, the match opened up and both teams began to fire more shots toward goal.
In the 65th minute, Thomas-Asante broke through Panama’s back line and squared a ball across the six-yard box toward Jordan Ayew, but Jiovany Ramos recovered to make a last-ditch tackle and deny the tap-in.
“Panama had a great first half. They kept the ball really well and we struggled with the press,” said Antoine Semenyo, who initiated the scoring move with a pass to Thomas-Asante. “But in the second half we found more energy, pressed higher, and caused problems, and that led to the winner.”
