Ghana vow not to underrate any opponent

Ghana will not take their Group D opponents in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers lightly, Black Stars assistant coach Akwesi Appiah has told MTNFootball.com exclusively.

The West Africans were placed in the ‘Group of Death’ to play Zambia, Sudan and Lesotho or Burundi after the Saturday’s draw in Brazil.


The Black Stars have struggled in recent matches against Sudan while Zambia are in good form in the qualifiers for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.


The Black Stars were drawn in the same group when they qualified for the 2010 World Cup and are now in the same group with Sudan for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.


Appiah, a former Black Stars captain, admits every match must be tackled with all the seriousness it deserves.


"All these countries particularly Sudan and Zambia are all big footballing countries," Appiah exclusively told MTNFootball.com.


"I don't know why we keep drawing Sudan in every competition, Zambia have also been doing very well and countries that have never been to the World Cup are now all eager to get there which makes it even more difficult for us."

Ghana must top the group to proceed to the final qualifying stage where a draw will split the 10 group winners into five two-leg ties.


The aggregate winners will then qualify for the finals.


The Black Stars assistant coach thinks the new qualification format is strenuous than four years ago when group winners advanced automatically to the global tournament.


"This new pairing appears much more difficult than previous ones but the most important thing is to keep focus with our preliminary group,” Appiah said.


"We need to gather more information on the countries we are playing and until we get to the final round, concentration should be on our immediate opponents but I however believe with the quality of our team we can sail through when we get there."