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With help of Hartford Athletic assistant, Ghana earns surprise World Cup draw with England
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- With help of Hartford Athletic assistant, Ghana earns surprise World Cup draw with England
The Ghanaian National Team was the talk of the World Cup on Tuesday, as Ghana earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw with England in Foxborough.
The draw puts the Black Stars in excellent position to move on to the knockout round. They can secure their spot with a win or draw against Croatia in their next match, or by finishing as one of the top eight third-place teams. Ghana currently has four points in Group L, and no other third place team has more than three points , so they're in great position to advance as it stands.
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Ghana has shut out each of its two opponents so far in this World Cup, thanks to a fast and stout defense, and also thanks in part to a Hartford Athletic assistant coach.
Dan Gaspar works as the goalkeeper coach both for the Ghanaian National Team and Hartford.
The 71-year-old was born in Glastonbury, and has worked alongside legendary coach Carlos Queiroz , who has managed Real Madrid , Manchester United and the Portuguese National Team, among other stops. Gaspar has served as an assistant under Queiroz at several stops, and has worked for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Portugal 's three top clubs– Sporting, Benfica and Porto. He's also worked at Central Connecticut State, and served as the head coach at the University of Hartford from 2005-10. Gaspar has been with Hartford Athletic since 2022.
"This represents Dan's fourth World Cup on the sidelines. A tremendous lifetime achievement for anyone," Athletic head coach Brendan Burke said ahead of the World Cup. "We are truly lucky to have him as part of our technical staff here in Hartford. He has been instrumental to our USL Cup run last year and (goalie) Antony (Siaha)'s meteoric development.
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"His mentorship of me on all matters has made me a better manager and coach over the last two and a half years. Our entire roster, technical staff, and organization are excited for him."
Under Gaspar's tutelage, Ghanaian goalie Benjamin Asare pitched a shutout against star-studded England, making three key saves. He also came on at halftime of Ghana's first World Cup game, against Paraguay , and made three saves in the team's 1-0 win.
That Asare has excelled on the World Cup stage is a fascinating story in itself, as the 33-year-old goalie is the only player on the team who doesn't play in a major league in Europe or Saudi Arabia .
Asare stars for the Accra Hearts of Oak in the Ghana Premier League, and he became the first player in history from that league to start a World Cup game.
