Black Stars must pass Chad test

 Ghana’s Black Stars will seek to energise the quest for a 2026 FIFA World Cup berth when they encounter Les Sao of Chad at the Accra Sports Stadium today as qualifiers for the global football fiesta resumes.

Ahead of today’s 7p.m. kick off, the players have shown tremendous commitment to the course, ensuring a full house, at least on second day of a four-day camping to prepare.

Gladly, the latest call-ups have been free of the occa­sional drop-outs and absenteeism due to injuries, necessitating late invita­tions.

It is either the team is enjoying some good omen for this double header with Chad and Madagas­car or it is as a result of a special interest in qualifying to join the legends in the USA, Canada and Mexico football extravagansa.

Ordinarily, Chad, the whipping boys of Africa Group I qualifying, is not a threatening side in any way.

They are winless and pointless so far in all four qualifying games honoured. They boast of just a goal, having scored a total of nine and conceding eight.

Clearly, they have not shown any character of hav­ing the ability to cause any upset.

That notwith­standing, the Black Stars have found the need to also tread with caution having been uncon­vincing themselves with their performances of late.

Under Coach Otto Addo, confidence plummeted after failing to qualify to the next Afri­can Nations Cup (AFCON) from a group comprising of Angola, Sudan and Niger.

Interestingly, against the whipping boys of that group, Niger, the Black Stars struggled to hold their own against them, painfully losing 2-1 in front of the home fans.

Chad’s Les Sao present a similar script as they come on the back of a not too impressive performance but also hoping to halt that trend.

Certainly, that may be the reason the Black Stars, occupying third position as of press time, would leave nothing to chance in the quest to snatch the three maxi­mum points.

The likes of Comoros and Madagascar are giving early signals of an intention to upset the apple-cart. Comoros led with a point more than Ghana until Madagascar upstaged them after winning 4-1 against Central Africa Republic (CAR) on enemy ground on Wednesday.

Mali was another strong favou­rite for the slot available to the group until their surprise loss to the Black Stars. That changed the dynamics for the Malians who would now have to stage a fierce comeback.

That explains why the Black Stars must avoid slips at this stage of the qualifiers.

With his full squad available, Otto Addo would have no excuses whatsoever not to deliver the points against the Les Sao.

What has been their problem for some time now is teamwork. It is an area Coach Otto Addo and his team must find a way to address to get the team firing on all cylinders.

Despite the clout of Alexander Djiku, Mohammed Salisu, Gideon Mensah at the back, the Stars defence continue to concede goals that could have been avoided.

Additionally, top performers like Thomas Partey and Jerome Opoku are also yet to establish their dominance in the middle of the pitch, making it difficult for the attackers – Jordan Ayew, Inaki Williams and Antoine Semenyo, to find their rhythm upfront.

These are concerns Coach Otto must address to overcome the Les Sao in order to boost qualification ahead of the second clash against Madagascar.

As for Chad, the match pres­ents an opportunity for them not to just halt the losing trend but also earn their first point in the qualifiers.

Comparatively, Ghana are ahead in player quality, however, Coach Kevin Nicaise would have a few committed players like skipper David Ramadingaye David, Charles Tchouplaou, Abdallah Abdelrazakh, Frederic Djoeta and Brahim Azaz Goudja, to stop the Stars armada.

Ghana may be clear favourites to emerge victorious but the hun­ger on the faces of the Chad play­ers could spell doom for Ghana if they underestimate their guests.

They have already indicated that they are not in Ghana as tourists; they are here for business as usual, fully confident of earning a point from the game.

Players to watch

Thomas Partey, Ghana – The Arsenal defensive midfielder has returned to the national team fold after missing out for the better part of last year. Now with an opportunity to represent the Black Stars once again, Partey will be striving to put up a memorable performance and put the team a step closer to qualifying for World Cup.

Marius Mouandilmadji, Chad – The forward plies his trade for Turkish Super Lig club, Samsun­spor, and has registered eight goals and four assists this season. He’ll be looking to translate that form into the World Cup qualifi­ers, having already scored for the national team in their campaign so far.

 BY ANDREW NORTEY

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