We won't underrate Guinea-Bissau – Kwesi Appiah

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah is in no doubt that the Black Stars will defeat the Djurtus of Guinea Bissau in his final group game of the competition. The Black Stars have drawn two games and pressure has begun mounting on the team. Many fans believe the team has not played at a good level since the competition began but Appiah is hopeful that things will change on Tuesday when the Black Stars walk out on the Suez Stadium to face Baciro Cande’s men. The Guineans have also proven a hard nut to crack in games. They were beaten in the opening game by Cameroon and went on to grind out a draw in the second group game against Benin. A win against Ghana will propel them into the next stage and it is an opportunity they will be eyeing. With all at stake now and Ghana desperately needing a win to qualify, Appiah believes the best of Ghana is yet to come. “I have always said that you need to give every team that you are playing 100 per cent respect. Guinea Bissau is a strong team and as you saw they played against Benin, it was 0-0, and this shows that the mere fact that they have qualified for the competition, that means they are a good side,” he said. “There is no way we are going to underrate them. We are going out there to give them a very good game.” Ghana’s qualification hinges on the firepower upfront and goals have been scarce for the Black Stars. In the last four games, they have scored twice – an indication of how serious the goal-scoring situation is. But Ghana’s record scorer has played only a bit part at this tournament. Appiah left Asamoah Gyan on the bench for the Stars’ first game and threw him on in the late embers of the second game against Cameroon. With this role, it feels as though the man has lost confidence in the striker but the manager defends his decision saying it is purely tactical. “I don’t think we will have a lot of changes. I believe Gyan. No one has believed in Gyan more than me. The most important thing is we have training sessions and every coach assesses how the training goes and chooses players for a particular game so it depends on how he performs in training.”

The Black Stars are in deep waters. Not too deep though as they can swim ashore with a win against Guinea Bissau. If it does not happen, the team will only sink further. By Yaw Ofosu Larbi|editors.3news.com|Suez, Egypt