Black Stars driven to win for fans

Ghana looked like a safe bet to reach the final of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, after an impressive run until the semi-final stage of the competition where they lost to Zambia.

Yet the Black Stars have another game to play in the tournament - the race for third-place on Saturday when they come against Mali, a side they beat 2-0 in the group stages.

Ghana were beaten 1-0 by Zambia in the semi final which dashed their title ambitions.

With the desire of winning a fifth Nations Cup title out of the way, the third place match is one for pride as Ghana defender John Paintsil explains that the Black Stars are motivated for the game at the Estadio Nuevo in Malabo at 8:00pm local time (19:00 GMT).

“Yeah, it is [for pride]. We all know what happened against Zambia but we are professionals and here to compete to take something home. The game against Zambia is gone but now we are concentrating on Mali,” Paintsil said ahead of the game.

After falling short of their ultimate goal, the African Cup, Paintsil says they need to at least salvage something from the tournament for the supporters who have been great throughout the competition.

“We’ve played Mali before and beat them but we wouldn’t take it lightly because it wouldn’t be easy for us.

“As professionals and good players we are aware that Ghana’s got a good name in football so we need to win something.

“It’s time to take something home. We would go all out. We have been talking to ourselves and we have been motivated by the coach and also the technical bench. They are behind us,” he said.