Semenyo and Ghana aim to emulate 2010 World Cup heroes as they face England

Carlos Queiroz’s squad hope to repeat the form that almost made Ghana the first African team to reach the semi-finals

Antoine Semenyo was only 10 years old when Ghana came within a Luis Suárez handball of becoming the first African team ever to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. The Manchester City forward can still vividly recall the emotions that night as he watched with his family in Bexleyheath, south-east London.

“I remember being at my uncle’s house, and we were screaming after the handball, thinking we were going through,” he said in an interview last month. “Watching Ghana play in the World Cup was so special. Mum, Dad, uncles, aunties, cousins all turn up to one house, and we would watch all the games together, celebrating and screaming. Ghana came in [for me] when I was 19 or 20, so I was never going to turn it down.”