FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Some 16 years after Ghana produced one of Africa's most exhilarating FIFA World Cup runs, to reach the brink of the semifinals in South Africa, the Black Stars are on the cusp of returning to the knockouts.
On four points, it would take an utterly unlikely set of circumstances for them to miss out on the Last 32 now, with new head coach Carlos Queiroz giving the fallen giants an identity, a sense of purpose and, critically, a direction as they enjoy an excellent group-stage campaign.
They followed up an opening 1-0 victory over Panama by holding England -- one of the tournament favourites -- to a 0-0 draw in Boston on Tuesday. Ghana arguably should have won the contest, with several key refereeing decisions going against them.
Despite clearly possessing an attacking threat -- notably on the counter -- Ghana have not been a pulsating watch this tournament, unlike the Black Stars generations we've appreciated in the past, with their strength clearly lying in Queiroz-style defensive structure, chance reduction and disciplined rigidity.
They're one of only four teams -- along with Mexico, Argentina and Spain -- not to concede in their two opening World Cup games, despite facing 30 shots across their matches and using two goalkeepers.
"He told us to be compact, tonight for each other, and that we must know that we'll suffer, because we're playing against a great team," midfielder Kwasi Sibo told ESPN after the match.
"Still, we should keep our mentality tough, fight from the first minute to the 90th.
"We're listening to him, following his instructions, and we did the job for him."
Leftback Gideon Mensah, who has reached new heights with the Black Stars since Queiroz's arrival, has also lauded the clarity and honesty of the Portuguese head coach's message.
"He told us that we'd suffer, but that we had to accept we're playing against a good team, to be mentally strong, to get behind the ball," Mensah added.
"The plan isn't to be behind the ball the whole game, but at some point you need to accept what the game comes with and play to your powers.
"If staying behind the ball and then getting our goal is working for us, then why not?"
As had been the case in the opener against Panama -- when Caleb Yirenkyi secured all three points for the Black Stars with a 94th-minute winner -- Ghana's strategy against England wasn't to play for the draw, but to neutralise the Three Lions for the duration of the contest before attacking the spaces later on.
It nearly worked, with Ezra Konsa leaping into a bizarre challenge to deny Prince Kwabena Adu in the 79th minute, with the referee giving the Aston Villa man the benefit of the doubt despite him appearing to collide with the striker before the ball.
Jordan Pickford had earlier been fortune to get a freekick - and evade a red card - when he raced out of his area and clumsily collided into Kwabena Adu.
"[Queiroz] didn't tell us to go out in the second half for a draw, he told us to go and win the game because he saw that they were nervous," Sibo continued. "That motivated us even more to keep fighting in the second half."
"People were talking about us as underdogs," Mensah shared, "but our plan was to change the narrative about the game. To show up as Ghanaians and to show up as players who were ready to fight for our country.
"We had in our mind to change the story."
No one can deny that Queiroz has set about rewriting the story both for Ghana and for himself since being appointed in April, less than two months to go before the start of the World Cup.
It was an inauspicious arrival, with Queiroz -- a clear departure from what had gone before him with the national side -- given little time to implement his methods and impose his expectations before the World Cup.
Similarly, his record as an international head coach has been unconvincing, with spells as Iran and Egypt ending in disappointment, while there was clearly going to be a culture clash to overcome with the 73-year-old taking his first job in West Africa.
What's particularly impressive is how quickly he's converted Ghana from a team who conceded seven across friendly matches with Austria and Germany in March to a side that hasn't been breached in over 180 minutes at the World Cup.
"We know who we are," Jordan Ayew told ESPN. "We defended really, really well. We obviously weren't coming to attack, but we knew that we'd have three, four, five situations where we'd need to be really efficient.
"It wasn't meant to be, but we take a point and move on to the next game.
"Playing against us is very difficult. We have a lot of physicality, strong defenders, and played deep today - a bit too deep - but in the end, we got the point and we did it."
Queiroz also appears to have won over the Ghana players on a personal level as well, with the Black Stars lauding his man management skills and the humane way in which he's established his methods in the camp at such short notice.
It's a massive turnaround for a coach once described by Roy Keane as having 'the personality of a dead fish' following their time together at Manchester United.
"Frankly, I see him as a father," rightback Marvin Senaya told ESPN. "He leads us, he guides us a lot, he speaks to us a lot about fighting, about combats. Honestly, he inspires all of that and I think you can see it on the pitch.
"I hope that he continues to guide us in the same way and that he can help us go as far as possible in the competition."
Centreback Jerome Opoku has also described how Queiroz has worked with him individually to help him overcome some of the mental barriers that were perhaps preventing him from reaching his top level in international football.
"He's just given me confidence," the 27-year-old told ESPN. "I just needed the opportunity, and to have someone behind me who believed in me, so that I could showcase what I've got.
"It's not just about me, it's about the whole team. We're happy with him and I thank him a lot."
Each player appears to have their own Queiroz anecdote about how the former Real Madrid head coach has tackled an area of their game one on one, with the small gains being witnessed against the Three Lions in Boston.
"I remember when I first spoke to him in the camp and he asked me what I expected of him," Mensah concluded. "I said that it's so easy to have a coach, but what we needed was somebody who could really be a father figure for us.
"He's doing that a lot, he's a good coach."
Queiroz's impact - the DNA of Queiroz-ball, as conservative as it may be - is clear for all to see on the field, but how far could the Portuguese coach's less heralded human and man management qualities take this Black Stars collective at the World Cup?
