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Black Stars eye redemption in Kumasi
Ghana will be desperate to register their first win of the 2018 Fifa World Cup Qualifying campaign, when they play host to Congo-Brazzaville at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Friday.
Kick-off is at 3:30pm local time (5:30pm CAT).
The Black Stars are winless after two rounds of qualifiers following disappointing results against Uganda and Egypt respectively, in their opening two games of Group E.
A goalless draw at home to the Cranes in Tamale, where the West Africans came up against an inspired Denis Onyango, was duly followed by a 2-0 defeat away to a star-studded Egyptian side in Alexandria late last year.
This leaves Ghana in a precarious position heading into back-to-back matches against the ‘Red Devils’ with Sébastien Migne’s men also in search of their first win.
Abdallah Said and Mohamed Salah also proved the downfall of Congo, with the duo finding the back of the net in a 2-1 win for Egypt in Brazzaville. They then suffered a 1-0 loss to Uganda in Kampala leaving them rooted at the bottom of the log standings with zero points.
Ghana are aiming to qualify for their fourth World Cup in succession, having reached the knockout stages at both Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, before a disappointing group stage exit at Brazil 2014.
Black Stars defender Jonathan Mensah has reiterated that Ghana’s chances of reaching next year’s showpiece in Russia is not over, with the four-time Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) winners eyeing successive victories as they aim to resurrect their World Cup dream.
“You can never say it is a lost dream, because at the end of the day there are still a lot games to play before we get there, but It is a very tough hurdle,” Mensah told KweseESPN. “Normally after two games we have four points, but now reality has hit us and we must deal with it.
“We basically need to win both games against Congo,” he added. “If we don’t win those two games it is over for us. We simply have to win them, because that will set us up really well for the Egypt game at home later.”
Moreover, head coach Kwesi Appiah unveiled his selection criteria with many of those who impressed in the commanding win over Ethiopia, keeping their place in the squad.
“Before you make your call-up, you need to go out there and make sure you analyze, you get information on every player and that you follow every player weekly.
“Every call-up you have to consider the tactics you want to employ and you make a decision depending on that,” Appiah said.
Ghana boast an unbeaten record against their counterparts in 12 previous meetings according to Fifa.com. The Black Stars won 10 of said matches with two ending all square.
Appiah’s troops head into the clash in 50th spot on the latest Fifa World Rankings, 31 places above Congo who occupy 81st place.
The reverse fixture will take place at the Stade Municipal de Kintélé in Brazzaville next Tuesday.