世界杯小组赛：英格兰射门占尽优势却颗粒无收，加纳顽强死守门将神勇零比零逼平英格兰

England and Ghana drew nil-nil — a seemingly dull but in fact gripping defensive battle.

What made it brilliant: the underdog Ghana, facing a strong England, defended with sheer tenacity to earn one precious point.

Before recapping the match, let's first get to know these two teams.

England comes from Europe, one of world football's acknowledged powers, and for many years a World Cup title favourite.

Their ranks are packed with stars and their attacking firepower is potent; their captain Kane is a world-class forward, hugely experienced and a prolific scorer, England's most important marksman for years.

Their opponents in this match, Ghana, come from Africa, behind England in both fame and overall strength.

But Ghana's players are physically strong and tenacious, a resilient team that has never been an easy opponent.

For all these reasons, before the match almost everyone thought England could win comfortably.

Yet once the match actually got going, the picture on the pitch was something else entirely.

From the kickoff, England firmly seized the initiative.

With the ball at their feet, they launched fierce attacks at Ghana's goal again and again.

Crosses, long shots, corners, second-phase attacks — England used nearly every attacking weapon imaginable.

By the relevant stats, England had far more shots than their opponents all match, with an overwhelming edge in possession; on the run of play you could even say they completely dominated Ghana,

with the ball staying in Ghana's half for the vast majority of the time.

Yet what truly counts in football is always the number of goals, never the number of shots.

Facing England's tidal attacks, the whole Ghana team showed astonishing tenacity.

They knew that slugging it out in attack with a strong team like England was not a wise choice.

So they decisively chose to sit deep and counter.

They dropped as a unit into their own half, guarding their goal with packed numbers and unshakeable will, only breaking quickly forward when they caught a chance to threaten the other goal.

Every player gave everything — blocking, clearing, holding position — not one of them eased off in the slightest.

A few times England's shots came agonisingly close to a goal, only to brush past it by the smallest of margins.

And Ghana's keeper also performed superbly through the match, making several vital saves in a row, repeatedly keeping out England's hopes.

Even the experienced, sharp-instinct scorer Kane could never find a way through today.

In the closing stages he also missed a rather good chance, leaving countless England fans to feel for him.

England's fans in the stands rose hopefully from their seats again and again, only to sink back down in disappointment each time.

Minute by minute the time slipped away, and the utterly dominant England still couldn't breach that tenacious opposing goal.

In the end, the match finished nil-nil, both sides taking a point and shaking hands.

Looking at the result, the scoreline actually meant different things to the two teams.

For England, this result was undoubtedly somewhat disappointing.

They had a huge number of shots all match and an absolute edge in possession, yet never turned those advantages into even one goal.

But for Ghana, this was a rather successful and rather inspiring match.

Almost no one backed them beforehand — some even feared a heavy defeat — yet they answered every doubt with a full match of fight and resolute defending.

Facing a strong England, they tenaciously withstood wave after wave of attack, finally protecting their goal and coming through unscathed.

This one point also carries real weight for Ghana's qualification hopes in the group.

Taking points off strong teams is often the very key to whether an underdog can go further.

For a team known for defending, keeping a clean sheet against a side like England is itself the best proof of quality.

A clean sheet means not conceding a single goal in a match, keeping the opponent's attack firmly outside the goal.

Keeping a clean sheet against a strong team like England is by no means an easy thing.

This one point, for Ghana, can truly be called hard-won and deeply meaningful.

After the match, the discussion naturally centred on this game.

Some sincerely praised Ghana's defending as both tenacious and clever, the whole team fighting to the last moment, with their keeper delivering an outstanding performance.

Others felt for England, that having so many shots yet failing to score was a real pity, the problem mainly being the final touch.

Actually, this is exactly what makes football both fascinating and most cruel: whether you score often matters far more than how many shots you take.

It also reminds every team: even if you dominate the pitch, if you keep failing to take the chances in front of you, in the end it's still hard to win.

For England, this draw is also a wake-up call of sorts; as a title favourite, they need to fix their attacking efficiency soon.

After all, deeper into the World Cup they will meet more and more solidly defending opponents like Ghana.

And for Ghana, this precious point gives them the hope and confidence to keep going.

And for those who love watching football, seeing such a gripping defensive battle of weak against strong is itself a rare treat.

It tells us that football's appeal in fact lies not only in goals; sometimes, defending to the bitter end is just as moving.

Okay, that's the whole story of England against Ghana, see you next time.