Saudi Arabia, Ghana goalless in friendly

Ghana was held to 0-0 by Saudi Arabia despite dominating possession in the friendly on Wednesday.

Ghana was hoping to avenge a 5-0 friendly loss in Riyadh three years ago, and seven of the side featured in the World Cup quarterfinals against Uruguay at the World Cup, but they could not capitalize on long spells of possession.

Kevin Prince Boateng, who earned a move to AC Milan for his impressive performances in the World Cup, pulled the strings in midfield while Asamoah Gyan was deployed as a lone striker.

However, Gyan couldn't reproduce the form that has seen him score four goals in his last three games for Sunderland in the English Premier League.

Ghana come closest to breaking the deadlock shortly before halftime when a rare Gyan shot was tipped over the crossbar by Walid Abdullah. Moments later, Saudi midfielder Ahmed Atif found himself with space, but his speculative effort from distance was easily collected by Richard Kingson in the Ghana goal.

The intensity of the match grew in the second half, but several rash challenges forced the game to be continually stopped. Emmanuel Clottey, who replaced Kwadwo Asamoah in the second half for Ghana, saw a lot of the ball on the right side, but with Saudi defending in numbers, his attacks came to naught.

Saudi turns its attention to Yemen, which it plays on Monday, in preparation for January's Asian Cup in Qatar. Ghana's next game is an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo in March.

Lineups:

Saudi Arabia: Walid Abdullah, Mishal Asayi (Kamel Al Moussa, 89), Hamid Mukheshri, Hassan Maaf, Sahoud Kaheri, Ahmed Atef (Abdulmalik Quiburri, 80), Manaf Bushgherra, Abdul Atef (Tasir Al Jasim, 62), Naser Al Shamrani (Abdullaziz Al Dosari, 76) , Naif Azzazi (Mohammed Abu Radaya, 62), Osama Housawi.

Ghana: Richard Kingson, John Pantsil, David Addy, Lee Addy, Jonathan Mensah, Anthony Annan, Quincy Owusu-Abayie, Kevin-Prince Boateng (Samuel Inkoom, 45), Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah (Emmanuel Clottey, 62), Asamoah Gyan.