Black Stars skipper, Asamoah Gyan, is thrilled by the idea of becoming the youngest player to qualify Ghana to the FIFA World Cup and cannot wait to finish that business at the newly-constructed 30,000-seater Air Defence Stadium in Cairo this evening.
“I'll feel proud to become the youngest captain to qualify Ghana to the World Cup. If it happens I will be the happiest man; I thank God for everything that has been happening in my life,” the elated Gyan told Daily Graphic yesterday.
He said the Stars had resolved to win today's game even though what mattered most was qualification.
“We aim at beating Egypt again today but what matters most is that we are qualifying for the World Cup. We have done it before and I have no doubt at all in my mind that we will do it again at the end of 90 minutes,” the Stars' skipper assured.
“The team is strong and everybody is playing well in their clubs so we grouped in Istanbul to build team spirit and focus on winning the game. Everything is okay in terms of motivation and security and what matters to us now is to go out there to qualify and make the nation proud.”
Gyan was full of praise for the high level of commitment displayed by his teammates throughout the qualifiers and expressed the belief that nothing could stand between them and a safe passage to Brazil come next year.
“I congratulate the team on the hard work so far. We came from the third position to top our group and are now on the verge of qualifying after registering a massive 6-1 scoreline in the first leg in Kumasi.
“I believe in the quality of the team and I know what each player is capable of doing,' the in-form Al-Ain striker summed up Ghana's chances in today's duel with the Pharaohs.
Just like Gyan, history beckons Coach Kwasi Appiah as well, as the first ever local coach to lead the Black Stars to the Mundial, and the soft-spoken trainer believes he has a solid squad fully prepared to book the passage to Brazil today.
A satisfied Kwasi Appiah told the Daily Graphic after the team's training camp in Istanbul that his main headache now had to do with player selection, recalling what happened during the first leg when he did not know which players to introduce at certain stages in the game.
Based on the team's preparations in Turkey, it will not be surprising to see Coach Appiah start the game with Fatau Dauda, Harrison Afful, Daniel Opare, Rashid Sumaila, Jerry Akaminko, Sulley Muntari, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Abdul Majeed Warris and Andre Dede Ayew.
His Egyptian counterpart, Bob Bradley, like most Egyptians, has already thrown in the towel due to the huge deficit and is merely seeking a face-saving victory to make the home fans happy.
If the 2-0 victory the Pharaohs registered over Zambia in last Wednesday's friendly is anything to go by, then the Stars need to brace for a fierce battle from the Mohamed Aboutreikas, Wael Gomaas, Mohamed Salahs and the Amr Zakis who will be cheered on by a typical roaring partisan crowd.
Quotes by Black Stars players:
Rashid Sumaila: Today's game is very important for us because we need to qualify for the World Cup. We all saw from the preparation in Istanbul that everybody is determined to give his best in the game. My partnership with Jerry Akaminko is going very well after our first game in Kumasi and we hope to combine effectively again today to ensure all goes on well for the team.
Fatau Dauda: We give thanks to God for bringing us this far. We are only waiting to kill the game and book our pass to Brazil. We have only one step ahead to finish the game and secure our qualification.
Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu: We are all prepared and know what is ahead of us today. We are really fired up for the match and have mapped up a strategy to hold them since it is an away game. With the quality and commitment of the players in camp, we will surely deliver today.
