​Benjamin Asare earns praise from Carlos Queiroz after heroics against England

Black Stars Head Coach Carlos Queiroz has heaped praise on goalkeeper Benjamin Asare for his impeccable performance against England on Tuesday evening.

Asare, who replaced the injured Ati-Zigi, proved pivotal for the Ghana team, helping the side secure an all-important stalemate at the Gillette Stadium in the United States.

Queiroz, who dislikes praising individuals, insisted Asare deserved the plaudits after a composed display that included a first-half save from Harry Kane and a late strike from Bukayo Saka.

“Usually, I don’t like to talk. Never, never. I avoid talking about individual players,” Queiroz said. “But I think he deserves applauds. He was brilliant because he’s in a specific position in the team and this is only due to the quality of the player, first of all, and the work that we did with all of them.”
Queiroz also indicated that the clean sheet belonged to the entire group.

“I know and I learned in this business that we can win a couple of games with 11 players, but we can never succeed if we don’t have a team ready to fulfil all the obligations,” he said. “As you see today, he comes out, he performs. Other players also come and they did well. This is the most important thing.”

He stated that the unity among the players was instrumental in securing the vital point, rather than tactics alone.

“When 11 men go inside one pitch and they share a common dream, things can happen,” Queiroz said. “All my players, they play for each other. They don’t play for the scoreboard. They don’t play against the watch. They don’t play against the history. They just play for each other, to the teammate that was side by side with them.”

“And when it was necessary to go forward, they knew they had a team behind them. That’s why I was very pleased with them.”

Ghana and England both move to four points in Group L. The Black Stars face Croatia in their final group game on 28 June, with qualification for the Round of 16 still in their hands.

“We have 26 players ready to perform,” Queiroz added. “Congratulations to them.”