Black Stars goalkeeper, Richard Ofori, is urging his teammates to give out their very best ahead of the second leg of the 2022 FIFA World Cup play-off against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, tomorrow in Abuja.
The Orlando Pirates goal tender said despite the fact that the team appears new with the introduction of a few new faces, they deserves applauds from Ghanaians for the performance on Friday in the first leg.
“But with the verdict as it looks now, we have to find the back of the net at all cost tomorrow. We have to sharpen our attack and concert the chances we’ll create. There is very little margin of error at this stage.”
Ofori made these remarks on Friday when the Black Stars was held to a goalless encounter by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the first leg of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, on Friday.
With a few new faces including Denis Odoi and Afena Gyan making a debut under a relatively new technical team led by former Ghana international Otto Addo and supported by George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani as assistants and Chris Houghton as Technical Advisor, the Stars put up a much improved performance against the star-studded Nigerians.
Ofori who deputed for Joseph Wollacot said after the game; “It is a new team; we trained for just three days but had to put in an extra effort to perform better than what we did at the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon. A lot has changed in the team and our tactics were solid.
“The fighting spirit was there; we possessed a lot of quality players who fought throughout the game. There is nothing wrong with the team now; the Nigerians operated largely on the flanks waiting for us to commit errors so they capitalise on them but in all, they also played well. We will win the game in Nigeria and that is the most important thing for us,” Ofori added.
Tomorrow’s second leg clash at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja is a must win game for Ghana as far as qualification to the football Mundial was concerned and according to Ofori, this is etched on the mind of every member of the team.
The Black Stars are chasing their fourth appearance at the FIFA World Cup, having represented in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
The Black Stars’ absence at the 2018 edition in Russia came as a shock to the football world, having carve a niche for themselves in the previous editions.
FROM LINUS SIAW NARTEY, KUMASI
