Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz has praised goalkeeper Benjamin Asare for his outstanding performance in the Black Stars’ goalless draw with England at the Boston Stadium.

The Hearts of Oak goalkeeper produced a series of key saves, including a decisive stop to deny England winger Bukayo Saka, as Ghana held firm to grab a key point against the Three Lions.

In a post-match press conference, coach Queiroz said Asare deserved special recognition for his display.

“Usually, I don’t like to talk. Never, never. I avoid talking about individual players. But I think he deserves applauds,” the Portuguese coach said.

“He was brilliant because he’s in a specific position in the team and this is only due to the quality of the player, first of all, and the work that we did with all of them.

“So, since the beginning, and my approach, it is work with all players and make them ready to perform. I know and I learned in this business that we can win a couple of games with 11 players, but we can never succeed if we don’t have a team ready to fulfil all the obligations.”

Ghana’s disciplined defensive performance frustrated England, with Asare’s interventions helping the West Africans maintain a clean sheet against one of the tournament favourites.

Queiroz stressed that the result reflected collective effort rather than individual brilliance.

“As you see today, he comes out, he performs. Other players also come and they did well. This is the most important thing. We have 26 players ready to perform, so congratulations to them.

“And special, which is not easy when you play one game that demands 90 minutes of full concentration, resilience, fighting, determination.

“When 11 men go inside one pitch and they share a common dream, things can happen and all my players, they play for each other. They don’t play for the scoreboard. They don’t play against the watch. They don’t play against the history. They just play for each other, to the teammate that was side by side with them,” he said.

The Black Stars remain second in Group L, level on points with England (four points) and Asare would be expected to retain his place in goal for the decisive fixture against Croatia at the Philadelphia Stadium on Saturday.