Black Stars to outshine Indomitable Lions
Ghana’s faith in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hangs on a thin line as they face defending champions, Cameroun, in an epoch clash at Ismailia later today.
The Black Stars have so far bagged just a point from their 2-2 draw with Benin and need victory over the Indomitable Lions to enhance their chances of scaling the group hurdle.
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On the contrary, the defending champions won their first game and could progress to the next stage with a draw although they have a good record against the Black Stars.
Despite the tough task ahead, Coach Kwasi Appiah has downplayed the threat of the Camerounians insisting that his young squad are not intimidated by the pedigree of his opponents but only have respect for them.
“We have nothing but respect for Cameroun yet no fear. We have a young team that is motivated to achieve and win against Cameroun,” Coach Appiah said during the pre-match press conference yesterday.
With his skipper, Andre Ayew, cleared by the medical team to play in today’s game, the Ghanaian gaffer may not have to worry about varying his tactics but his concern may be how to shape the team to perform better than their first game.
Perhaps, Coach Appiah could vary his tactics by keeping players who underperformed during the first game, including Lumor Agbenyenu and Christian Atsu, on the bench for the likes of Baba Rahman and Kwadwo Asamoah, while Samuel Owusu could be drafted in to fill the void created by injured Thomas Agyepong.
The Black Stars are aware of how crucial this game would be and have vowed never to drop their guard but fight to prove to their nemesis that Ghana are the favourites for the trophy.
“Everyone in Ghana trusts us. We learned a lot from the previous match. We are always favourites for the title and we want to prove it against Cameroun”, Kwadwo Asamoah said.
For the Indomitable Lions, a new strategy is what is required to beat Ghana and Coach Clarence Seedorf is looking at winning the midfield battle in order to silence the Black Stars again although he envisages a difficult battle.
“Ghana have a strong team. When my brother Samuel Eto’o visited, it was positive for the team. Pressing from the middle is our key weapon,” Seedorf said.
“The Ghana game is crucial in qualifying to the next stage. We can win and we’ll do our best. The coach gave us the midfielders advice on how to go about our mission against Ghana,” Georges Mandjeck noted.