BURY THEM, STARS!

• Time to dislodge the Warriors of Zimbabwe Preview: Maurice Quansah

THE lush green turf at the Accra Sports Stadium will be turned into a battle ground fit for heavyweights when the Black Stars descend heavily on the Warriors of Zimbabwe on Sunday in an African Nations Cup qualifier.

In the same charged atmosphere that the players tried to save Giuseppe Dossena’s job three months ago with a 5-0 drubbing of Sierra Leone, the Stars look poised to serve another sumptous dish of typical Ghanaian soccer to welcome Rainer Bonhof, the man expected to take over the team later in the month.

The setting for such a renaissance could not have come at a better time, following the aftershocks that followed the disengagement of Dossena, coupled with threats by some players to quit the Stars.

Germany-based Stars skipper Charles Akonnor points out that the positive response of his Europe-based team-mates to Sunday’s match is a reflection of their determination to relaunch the team’s Nations Cup campaign after a faulty start against Lesotho.

“The match is important for everyone of us, that’s why everyone is here to do his best on Sunday,” Akonnor told Graphic Sports confidently.

It may be just coincidental that Bonhof’s presence weaves into the turnaround by senior players who missed out on the Lesotho game last month.

However, Akonnor paints a positive picture of the team’s substantive coach.

“There’s a new atmosphere in the team now and that’s why all the players who matter are here. It’s about Ghana and the Black Stars, not any individual.

“It doesn’t matter who’s the coach, we are here to win,” Akonnor assured.

At full strength and with a perfect blend of home-based and foreign-based players, the Stars cut Sierra Leone to size, and in their first home match since that demolition act, expectations are high for the team to produce another sterling performance to take over as group leaders.

Zimbabwe’s recent record suggests that territorial advantage is not enough guarantee for Ghana to coast to an easy victory.

Winners of the southern African championship, the COSAFA Cup, Zimbabwe acheived that feat with comfortable victories at home and away over Lesotho, against whom the Stars incidentally struggled for a 3-3 draw in Maseru.

Such a threat to Ghana’s home record is recognised by the VFL Wolfsburg midfielder who expects the Zimbabweans to come up with a fight as their nickname epitomises.

“We all know Zimbabwe is not a cheap side, they are a very strong side. That’s why we all have to do everything possible to win the match.

“It is even more important to win this match because the last time they won whilst we drew.

“I think they are definitely going to disturb us a lot. We have to prepare ourselves as if we are playig against Cameroun because this is a side that recently beat South Africa and we must therefore not take them cheaply,” Akonnor warned.

The determination to win is even echoed more in caretaker coach Fred Osam-Duodu, who expects another business-as-usual approach from his charges. “The boys are very determined to play and win and that gives me a lot of confidence as a coach”, he told Graphic Sports after putting the team through drils during last Wednesday’s training.

Having watched the Warriors play during an “espionage” mission to the Southern African country, Osam-Duodu elieve they can ifnd the antidote to any trick the visitors might put up.

While the Stars’ line-up may have the luxury of big name professionals but Zimbabwe’s coach Mishek Marimo would have to cope with the absence of their Birmingham City star Peter Ndlovu, who chose club assignment over Accra clash.

Ndlovu’s absence may take away the shine on the Wariors who nonetheless still posses a good blend of young players capable of giving Ghana a good run for their money.

In a similar competition three years ago, Abedi Pele and Samuel Kufour gave Ghana a 2-1 victory in Accra a hard-fought game.

Kufour and his Hearts of Oak namesake, Emmanuel, who were part of that game, should team-up with Charles Amoah, Yaw Preko, Ishmael Addo, Akonnor among others to rediscover their winnning spirit and dazzle to catapault the team to the top of the group, even though suh a feat would not come without a fight.