2026 FIFA World Cup: “Facing Harry Kane is normal – goalkeeper Benjamin Asare

Black Stars goalkeeper Benjamin Asare says facing and preventing English striker Harry Kane from finding the back of the net was very normal.

Kane led the Three Lions as they were held to a pulsating scoreless draw by Ghana during England’s World Cup group game in Boston on Tuesday.

The skipper recorded just a single shot on target throughout the entire game, with the Bayern Munich talisman also having another late effort saved and multiple attempts blocked by the defense.

Asare, who was handed his first start in post, put up a splendid performance, winning the applause of Ghanaians across the world to keep his second clean sheet.

At 33, Asare showed resilience, commanding his backline while making three crucial saves on the day against an English team with four shots on target from a total of 19 attempts.

Speaking after the game, Asare admitted that the world’s top goalkeepers do fail to keep clean sheets, and he is not an exception.

He stressed that he is focused on improving each day and keen on proving to the world that it is his job and he is bent on doing it.

“It’s normal because even the top goalkeepers do concede goals, so how much more me?”

They can score me, but I always want to improve and also prove to people that it is my job and that I can do it. I’m very impressed with the point gained for Ghanaians,” he told Joy Sports’ Fentuo Tahiru.

When quizzed on how the news came to him as a part of the starting lineup, the Hearts of Oak’s safest pair said,

“It was massive in the dressing room, and most of my teammates knew that I could do it, and that is how the Shatta Movement is because I do it for my life,” he added.

Asare is the only local player from the Ghana Premier League playing at the World Cup after an excellent campaign for the Phobians.

He made a cameo appearance in Ghana’s 1-0 victory in the opening game against Panama, replacing Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who picked up an injury in a first-half collision.

Ghana now has four points and will face Croatia in their final group game on June 27 in Philadelphia, where a win or draw seals a round 32 spot for the West Africans.