World Cup Qualifiers: Black Stars poised for battle

Samuel K. Obour Football Jun - 05 - 2013 , 08:16

The Desert Hawks of Sudan have been playing mind games with the Black Stars ostensibly to shift their focus from Friday’s crucial FIFA World Cup Group D match, but the Ghanaians seem unperturbed by any such ploy following a resolve by skipper Asamoah Gyan and his teammates to settle for nothing less than victory.

The match, which kicks off at 5pm GMT, was originally fixed for the astro-turfed Khartoum Stadium only to be shifted to the Al Merreikh Stadium in Omdurman at the eleventh hour under the pretext of floodlights problems.

That change compelled Coach Kwasi Appiah to quickly adjust his training regime from artificial turf to a grass pitch in the team’s training camp in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to suit the new venue.

And quite interestingly, the Sudanese who had lost 0-2 to Ethiopia in an AU Golden Jubilee match a fortnight ago, crossed over to neighbouring Ethiopia again last Sunday for a warm-up match with Tanzania which ended goalless. Incidentally, the National Stadium in Addis Ababa which was the venue of that international friendly is the same pitch the Black Stars opted for in the final stages of their preparations.

So while Coach Mazda Abdallah closed in on the Stars, he also offered Coach Appiah and his assistants a fine opportunity to size up their opponents from close range ahead of Friday’s tie.

With just a point at the bottom of the group, the youthful Desert Hawks are out of the race but are just determined to avenge their 0-4 defeat in March and possibly jeopardise Ghana’s third straight World Cup appearance at Brazil 2014.

But Ghana’s Skipper and goal poacher, Gyan, has ruled out a draw or defeat in Friday’s game, knowing too well that anything short of victory could play into the hands of Zambia who lead the group with seven points, one more than Ghana.

The Chipolopolo of Zambia who drew 1-1 with Lesotho in their last outing will also play their opponents who have two points in the return fixture in Lusaka.