Ghana to play Zambia in Kumasi
Black Stars will host the Chipolopolo of Zambia at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi in the 2014 World Cup Group D qualifier, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has confirmed.
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In a departure from the past where Ghana hosted such matches on weekends, the crucial match will come off on Friday, September 6. Kickoff is at 4.00p.m.
Ghana, who lead the Group D standing on 12 points, one point ahead of Zambia, needs at least a draw in Kumasi to win the group and secure a spot for a two-led playoff to decide which five countries will represent Africa at Brazil 2014.
The match was ostensibly brought forward to enable the Black Stars to travel to Tokyo four days later to play Japan in an international friendly.
Mr Ibrahim Sannie Daara, Communications Director of the FA, however, said the Japan game had nothing to do with the decision to play Zambia on a weekday instead of the traditional Sunday for such international matches.
“We have no concerns at all about playing Zambia on a Friday because our history of playing on Fridays in Kumasi shows that we will enjoy great support," he said.
“We enjoyed massive support when we hosted Lesotho on a Friday and we beat them 7-0 with support for the team being very high. We will not compromise on that.
“While we are planning for the match against Zambia we must also be thinking about the playoffs and how to be successful, which is equally important.
“We must not wait until we qualify before we start planning for that,” Mr Daara said.