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Ghana out to make amends for poor Afcon

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Ghana will host Bafana Bafana in the first match of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Cape Coast on Thursday, hoping to reinstall faith in the national team.

This is according to their South Africa-based goalkeeper Richard Ofori, who admits that confidence in the Black Stars is not great at the moment following a disappointing 2019 Afcon in Egypt earlier this year.

The west Africans lost in the last 16 and hardly looked like contenders and Maritzburg United custodian Ofori says they want to make up for that poor showing.

In the aftermath of Afcon, Ghana’s FA kept faith with beleaguered Kwesi Appiah despite opinion being divided over the coach. The 59-year-old has gone a new route for the first game of the qualifiers to try and find a new way of reinvigorating the four-time African champions.

Appiah has selected seven new faces in his team and he will be hoping his decision to put faith in youth will help them bring down a Bafana side, who are beginning a new era under Molefi Ntseki. They will continue to be captained by star man Andre Ayew and Ofori is hoping for a new beginning.

Victory for either side will be an excellent platform for qualification from a tough Group C that also includes Sudan, who Bafana next face on Sunday, and Sao Tome and Principe.

The Ghanaians are the top ranked side amongst the four; they are placed seventh in Africa compared to the 13th by South Africa.

The other two teams are well outside the top 100 in the world, but their global standing means little, according to Ofori. He believes the game has transformed and has warned against taking any side lightly. Report by Thahir Asmal

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