Ghana's
quest to end a 30-year wait for an Africa Cup of Nations title will face
its biggest challenge yet on Sunday when they battle Tunisia for a
place in the semi-finals of the 2012 tournament.
The
winners will tackle the victors of the other quarter-final between
Zambia and Sudan in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, next Wednesday.
Quarter-finalists at the 2010 World Cup, the Black Stars of Ghana have
stayed on course for a fifth Nations Cup title even though they were far
from convincing in the group phase. They laboured to pip debutants
Botswana 1-0 before raising their game to down Mali 2-0, but were pegged
back by Guinea 1-1 in their final Group D match.
Ghana
coach Goran Stevanovic, who has promised to win the trophy on February
12, has pledged the team will improve. Ukraine-based midfielder Derek
Boateng, meanwhile, says he expects another tough match on Sunday.
"Tunisia have a very good side. They are disciplined on the field, like
Guinea," said Boateng, who saw his first action in the tournament
against Guinea. "We know that it is going to be difficult, but we hope
to do our best to win the game and qualify."
Former
Ghana skipper Sammy Kuffour said Tunisia's man to watch is Youssef
Msakni, who scored a wonder goal against Morocco. "He is a hugely
talented player and we need to keep an eye on him at all times," warned
Kuffour. "Maybe the coach will put someone on him, like we did with
Seydou Keita when we played against Mali."
Current
captain John Mensah has recovered fully from a thigh muscle problem,
but it is still to be seen whether stand-in John Boye will be dropped to
allow him to renew his partnership in central defence with Isaac Vorsah.
Midfielder Anthony Annan suffered a personal loss following the death
of his mother on Thursday, but he insisted on remaining with the team.
Tunisia will be Ghanas biggest threat yet after they fought their way
past north African rivals Morocco and Niger in the first round to finish
behind inspired co-hosts Gabon in Group C.
The
Carthage Eagles, who were crowned African champions in 2004 when they
hosted the competition for the third time, beat Ghana 1-0 in a friendly
in 2006 when the teams last met. They endured a difficult qualification
campaign before former international Sami Trabelsi took over, having led
the country to victory last year in the Championship of African Nations
(CHAN) for players who are based in their domestic leagues. "We will
play our normal game, be more aggressive and be more efficient than we
were against Gabon. We have the quality to go on in this competition,"
said Trabelsi. "We are motivated because we want to represent Tunisian
football very well at a time of the rebuilding of the various sectors of
our country."
Since
they won the 2004 Nations Cup on home soil, Tunisia have attracted the
big guns at this stage of the tournament. In 2006, they lost on
penalties in the quarter-finals to Nigeria in Port Said and two years
later, they were stopped again in the quarter-finals, losing 3-2 to
Cameroon after extra time. Tunisia showed strength in depth against
co-hosts Gabon, when they made eight changes from the starting XI
against Niger and still dominated the game. Trabelsi must therefore
decide how to accommodate skipper Karim Haggui, Mejdi Traoui and Khaled
Korbi, who were left out of the Gabon match to avoid picking up
additional bookings and risking suspensions. Exciting Esperance
attacking midfielder Msakni resumed full training with the rest of the
squad in Bongoville on Thursday after training on his own the previous
day due to a sore ankle from the Guinea game. Tunisia team doctor Faisal
Khachnaoui has assured that 'The Tunisian Messi', who has scored
against Morocco and Niger, will be fit for Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment