The Ghanaian witch doctor’s curse seemingly worked when Harry Kane missed the best chance of the match to seal England three points against Ghana in their second game at the World Cup.
The Three Lions beat Croatia 4-2 with the Bayern Munich star netting twice, and Thomas Tuchel’s side arrived at Tuesday’s clash as the overwhelming favourites after Ghana made tough work of beating Panama deep into added time in their opening game.
However, England were limited to just four shots on target despite dominating the ball against Ghana’s low block. The golden chance to win the game fell the way of Kane, but England’s all-time top goalscorer sliced a left footed volley over the bar after Nico O’Reilly had headed against the woodwork.
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If fans could have chosen any player in world football to be on the end of that chance, Kane would’ve been the man, but he was unable to put his effort on target.
In the build-up to the match, talk centred around a curse that Ghanaian witch doctor Nana Kwaku Bonsam, whose name translates literally as “Devil of Wednesday”, claimed to have placed on him.
Nana said: “I am working on Harry Kane. I have shown what I am capable of before so I know what work I must do to stop him. I am very famous for my predictions.
“I am not wishing him serious injury. It will be just enough to stop him against my country. I will do my work so that it can help Ghana.”
Nana has previous after he claimed responsibility for the knee injury that threatened Cristiano Ronaldo’s participation in the World Cup in 2014. Whatever you believe, Kane did not have a good night in front of goal.
Fans on X reacted to Kane’s display after Nana’s intervention, with one user saying: “Thomas Tuchel got Timo Werner flashbacks when Harry hit that moon ball.” A second said: “Kane didn’t miss, he just got spiritually pressed.” While a third added: “I don’t want to say it worked, but the proof is in the pudding, well the proof is from the six-yard box actually.”
Speaking after the game, Kane was asked about that wasted chance: “You go through games like that. I was just waiting for an opportunity like that to fall my way. It was the kind of game as a striker where you’re just waiting for the ball to bounce, and it did.
“I just couldn’t quite get over the ball, but I’d back myself to score that more often than not. It is what it is. I’ve been a striker long enough to know they don’t always go in, so I have to accept it.”
Kane also failed to majorly impact the game against Ghana’s resilient low block, he added: “I was almost man-marked by [Thomas] Partey for a lot of the game. I didn’t really have the space to drop deep and then arrive late in the box, and they also defended the box well.
“We had plenty of crosses, but we just couldn’t quite get the first contact. The balls through the middle were tough to play because it was so compact in there.”
England play Panama on Saturday and know they must win to confirm their place as Group L winners.