Derrick Luckassen Delighted With World Cup Debut and Goal Despite Ghana Defeat
Ghana defender Derrick Luckassen admitted he was left with mixed emotions after marking his FIFA World Cup debut with a goal, only to see the Black Stars suffer a 2-1 defeat to Croatia in their final Group L fixture on Saturday.
The 30-year-old centre-back, who made his first appearance at the tournament after replacing the rested Jerome Opoku in the starting lineup, made an immediate impact by scoring Ghana’s equaliser midway through the second half at Lincoln Financial Field.
Luckassen rose to meet a cross inside the penalty area in the 73rd minute, cancelling out Croatia’s first-half opener and giving the Black Stars renewed hope. However, the celebrations were short-lived as Croatia regained the lead through Nikola Vlašić to seal all three points.
Reflecting on his memorable debut, the Pafos defender said finding the net on football’s biggest stage was a proud moment, although the result overshadowed his personal achievement.
“Nice feeling [for scoring], but I am a bit disappointed about the loss,” Luckassen said.
The defender, who was drafted into Ghana’s World Cup squad following the injury withdrawal of Alexander Djiku, also assessed the team’s overall display against the 2018 finalists.
According to Luckassen, Ghana lacked attacking intent before the interval but showed greater urgency after the restart.
“I think in the first half, we had the ball, but we didn’t do a lot; we were just playing around, but in the second half, we pressed forward, and we tried to put the balls in and it was much better, in my opinion,” he explained.
Although the Black Stars were unable to avoid defeat, their place in the knockout rounds had already been secured before kick-off after collecting four points from their opening two matches against Panama and England.
Ghana now shift their attention to the Round of 32, where Carlos Queiroz’s side will look to build on an encouraging group-stage campaign and continue their quest for World Cup success.
