Brazil 2014: Ghana
June 6, 2014
On June 21, 2014, Ghana's Black Stars will face the German national team in their second match of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Group G, which also includes the US and Portugal, is considered to be one of the toughest in the group stage. Ghana's President John Mahama has one message for Ghana's team: "Don't be afraid."
"I don't think we should be deterred, they [the other teams] are also as frightened of us as we are of them and so it is anybody's game. We have the material, we have the players", he said.
Farouk Atipaga, deputy editor of sports website goal.com Ghana, predicts the clash between Ghana and Germany will be a "very tough game." He believes it will be "very difficult for any team to beat Germany in the group stage. We met four years ago in the same group and Germany won. They had to struggle but they used their experience to pass the Ghanaians. This time around it's going to be much the same, a very tough game," Atipaga said.
Teamwork is key
According to Ghana's coach Kwesi Appiha, the performance of all the Black Stars players has been really high which has turned the decision on who will make the starting eleven into a "headache" for him.
Unfortunately defender Jerry Akaminko injured his ankle during a friendly against the Netherlands, making him no longer an option. Jeffrey Schlupp and David Accam have also been dropped from the final 23-man squad.
It will have to be a committed team effort if Ghana are to avenge their 0:1 defeat against Germany during the last World Cup group stage in South Africa.
Leading the Black Stars on the field will be captain Asamoah Gyan. He believes that "Unity is the key, it doesn't matter who we play with. Although the players are young, we've got quality and they are capable of doing the right thing." For many of the fans back home, 'doing the right thing' has only one meaning as far as the World Cup is concerned. "I have this gut feeling, we are going to pick the trophy this year. I really have that feeling that with the crop of players we have, we play as a team - that is what I believe in,", Accra resident Patrick Asiagbor told DW. Nii Lantey Lartey is also optimistic. "I think with this team and the squad we have, we are going to go as far as the semi-finals - or probably the final."