Izuchukwu Okosi
The United States and Wales battled to a hard-fought, physical 1-1 draw in the teams’ World Cup Group B opener at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar in which President George Opong Weah’s son, Timothy, scored on Monday night.
The outcome was something of a disappointment after the U.S. had shown flashes of greatness in a dominant first half.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe first goal of the team’s World Cup campaign came in the 36th minute, as U.S. winger Christian Pulisic fed a breakaway ball to Timothy Weah, who flicked it in just ahead of the outstretched foot of Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey as the U.S.-friendly crowd roared.
Weah’s son made his father, who is the President of the West African nation, Liberia, basks in the euphoria od the fact that his father during his football career was awarded the 1995 FIFA World’s Best Footballer of the Year after emerging the African Footballer of the Year.
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The young U.S. squad controlled much of the early game at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, besting Wales in time of possession. It narrowly missed an earlier goal in a chaotic sequence where a near Wales own-goal turned into a chance for forward Josh Sargent, whose header went just wide of the post.
But Wales came alive in the second half, pressing hard on the U.S. defense. Keeper Matt Turner worked to keep Wales from finding the net with a series of top quality saves.
Bale absorbed the pressure with style and powered a penalty into the top-right corner with Turner managing to get a fingertip to it, but it went past him for the equalizer.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
