Our prediction for this match:
Nicaragua and Ghana face each other at Estadio Francisco Artes Carrasco in what will be their first ever meeting on the international stage. Marco Figueroa’s men will be aiming to make amends for a 2-1 loss to Surinam, but will have a mountain to climb in Tuesday’s encounter. Ghana, on the other hand, will try to bounce back from a heavy 3-0 loss to Brazil on Friday and to wait the World Cup opener against Portugal in good spirits.
Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey will be the man to keep an eye on in the African team, as well as Ayew brothers. All Inaki Williams, Tariq Lamptey and Elisha Owusu will be pushing for a start as Otto Addo is going to use Tuesday’s friendly to test as many players as possible. The Black Stars have big ambitions for the upcoming showpiece tournament in Qatar, and we predict that they will prove their worth on the field.
Highlighted Player (Juan Barrera):
Born in Ocotal, Nicaragua Juan Barrera started his senior career at Real Esteli. Barrera, who is nicknamed el Iluminado, then played for the likes of Villa Austria, Walter Ferretti and Tauro and in 2012 he rejoined Real Esteli. After ending his loan spell with Deportivo Petare, the pacey winger made 72 appearances for el Tren del Norte and scored 25 goals for the club, speaking of league fixtures. Juan Barrera then moved to Europe, signing a deal with Austrian club Rheindorf Altach.
In 2016 he joined Comunicaciones of Guatemala and he has been playing for the club ever since. The 175-cm-tall footballer made his Nicaragua debut in January, 2009 against El Salvador and he played an important role in the Nicaragua national team in the 2018 Qualifiers. Juan Barrera scored two goals in the process, in back-to-back victories over Anguilla.
However, Nicaragua eventually failed to make it to the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers. The winger made three appearances for Nicaragua at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup as well, but he failed to find the net at the tournament in USA.
Highlighted Team (Ghana):
Ghana are an African football team administered by Ghana Football Association. The Black Stars made their first ever appearances at the World Cup finals in 2006 and they were grouped with the likes of Italy, Czech Republic and United States. Ghana booked their place in the last 16, but they were outclassed by Brazil in the knockout stages of the showpiece tournament.
In 2010 the Ghanaians did remarkably well to make it to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup and it has to be noted that they were more than unfortunate not to eliminate Uruguay in the knockout stages of the tournament in South Africa.
The likes of Asamoah Gyan, Richard Kingson, John Paintsil, Emmanuel Agymang-Badu, Sulley Muntari, John Mensah, Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah, Harrison Afful and Abedi Pele are Ghana’s most capped players, but, no doubt, Michael Essien is the most famous footballer who played for the Black Stars. The Ghanaians play their home games in white shirts, while the colour of the team’s away kit is red.