Coach of the Black Stars, Avram Grant, has warned his charges to desist from being complacent as they prepare to face the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in their sixth consecutive Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals in Franceville on Thursday.
Approaching the match with a self-conceited mentality, according to the Israeli coach, has the potential to send another shockwave down the spines of the Black Stars as they attempt to revenge the defeat by the Cameroonians in the 2008 AFCON hosted by Ghana.
Grant, who has announced his decision to vacate his position after superintending the Black Stars to the finals of the competition in 2015, was cautious of the threat the Lions pose in the their quest to return the trophy they promised to deliver to Ghanaians in almost three decades of failed attempts.
Addressing the media after a very grueling quarter-final encounter with the Leopards of DR Congo, Avram Grant said: “even though the team has improved positively compared to how they played against Egypt, there are still loads of work to be done before they face Cameroon on Thursday.”
“We corrected mistakes we made and in the second period it was totally different, we played good football. The two goals we scored were fantastic. And when we fell asleep, they (DR Congo) also scored a fantastic goal. We have to wake up against Cameroon or we might be surprised.”
With Ghana’s thrusts creating panic in the Congolese defence, Jordan Ayew latched onto a poor clearance mid-way through the second period of the match and from 20 metres swept the ball past the DRC goalkeeper, Matampi Ley.
Within five minutes, it was all square. A free kick was taken before the Ghana defence could organise, M’poku strode on unchallenged and lashed home from 25 metres.
Ghana was rattled but it was the Congolese who erred when Lomalisa Mutambala allowed Christian Atsu to get past him on the right and in the panic hauled him down in the penalty area. André Ayew, skipper in the absence of Asamoah Gyan, converted to hand Black Stars the victory.
The Ayew brothers with the victory sealed a very tantalising semi-final duel to mark the seventh meeting between two dominant powerhouses in African football who now share an accumulated eight AFCON trophies since their first meeting in 1962 at an All African Games competition in Algiers.
Ghana has met Cameroon four times in the Africa Cup of Nations tournaments over the period of its commencement with a head to head advantage in favour of the Black Stars who have recorded two wins and two draws.
Meanwhile, former Black stars defender, Samuel Osei Kuffour, has backed calls by the former Chelsea boss, cautioning the Black Stars of the approach by the Cameroonians since they kicked off the tournament.
“Cameroon are mentally and physically very strong,” praised former Ghana and Bayern Munich star, after the Indomitable Lions dumped Senegal 5-4 on penalties on Saturday night in Franceville.
“Their chance now of reaching the final is imminent and their encounter with Ghana can no longer be dismissed. Like Cameroon have shown over the years, this younger version of the Indomitable Lions are very well organised in defence, working hard for each other to ensure they do not concede goals and that is what we should be concerned with.”
21-year-old goalkeeper, Fabrice Ondoa, has risen to the occasion after recent doubts, while Ambroise Onyango from the Major League Soccer (MLS) has improved his ratings with five-star displays as a left full-back, who loves to bomb down and join the attack.
This new Cameroon has also retained the bruising style the country has been known for. And against an equally robust Senegalese side, they gave away 40 fouls and had three players booked, meaning they are ready to put their bodies on the line literally as their more illustrious compatriots have demonstrated for many years now.
Coach Hugo Broos has clearly showed that he will line up the players who will deliver the results and not the big stars.
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