There is growing anxiety over the AFCON 2015 return qualifier between the Black Stars of Ghana and the Syli National of Guinea as Tamale fans are demanding nothing short of an emphatic victory from the Stars in their maiden outing at the Tamale Stadium today.
Currently on top of Group E with five points, it is the expectation of the enthusiastic Tamale fans that the Stars would give them cause to celebrate and also ensure the team’s smooth sail to AFCON 2015 in Morocco.
The determined visiting West African neighbours, who touched down in Tamale early last Monday morning would not be pushovers, following their brilliant display in the first leg which ended 1-1 at the Mohammed V stadium in Casablanca, Morocco last Saturday.
Syli Nationale, who mesmerised the Ghana defence in the last quarter of the game, resulting in the brilliant goal by Ibrahim Traore in the 81st minute, are presently trailing the Stars by a point (four points) and need a win badly.
However, the Stars captain who sounded confident on arrival of the team in Tamale last Monday, indicated that “we have now put all that behind us and are more focused than ever to amass all the maximum three points on Wednesday.”
He described the first leg encounter as a tough match but that the experience gained in that match had taught them a lesson not to underrate the capabilities of their opponents and, therefore, would give of their best to consolidate their position on top of the group.
The concern of most Ghanaians has to do with the Stars’ porous defence that was torn apart by the Guineans in Morocco last Saturday. Also worrying is the poor recovery rate of the right and left full backs when under attack.
The Stars coach, Maxwell Konadu, admitted his charges committed some technical blunders but has promised to fix them before the match.
The Guineans have so far registered a win over Togo and a draw with Ghana at their Morocco home base following the deadly Ebola scare in their country.
In spite of the fact that France-born Michel Dussuyer is gritting his teeth over the loss of some of his foreign-based players such as Alhassane Banoura (Spain), Kamil Zayatte (England) and Michel Landel (Turkey), his team, led by their skilful captain, Ibrahim Traore, is still capable of causing an upset in today’s match.
However, with the prevailing high morale in the Stars camp, coupled with the inspiration and support from the local fans, it is hoped that the team would gird their loins to ensure that they do not only win but do that emphatically to win back some Ghanaians who are still reeling under their disappointing performance in Brazil.
Probable line-up: Stephen Adams, Jonathan Mensah, Awal Mohammed, Harrison Afful, Kwabena Edusei, Andrew Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah, Emmanuel Agyeman-Badu, Christian Atsu, and Abdul Majeed Waris.
