Ghana and Mali to renew their international rivalry
Ghana, Mali eye comfort zone
Posted: 2012-01-28 09:48
Ghana and Mali will renew their international rivalry with a game that could seal progress into the quarter finals of the Nations Cup for both sides.
Ghana beat Botswana by a lone goal on the opening day while Mali won by a similar margin against Guinea in Group D.
Three points for either side at the Stade de Franceville may not guarantee quarter final progress because victory for either Guinea or Botswana means three sides can still finish the group with six points but will give either one foot in that stage
And both sides are confident they can do that.
Mali star player Seydou Keita of Barcelona has cranked up the pressure on the Black Stars by claiming they are favourites for this game.
"Ghana remain the favourites in our group, but the Black Stars are not unbeatable," Keita insists.
"The objective is to play to our potentials and get a positive result on Saturday." He added: "We have not achieved anything yet and in football, things can happen so fast and so our second game against Ghana will be a lot more decisive."
Ghana beat Mali in Bamako enroute to the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup and are confident of doing so again.
The hero of that game Kwadwo Asamoah who played no part in the game against Botswana is expected to play a role this time. His namesake Asamoah Gyan was back in training on Friday after missing Tuesday's session but there will be no John Mensah who is serving suspension.
Also absent is Isaac Vorsah who will complete the last of his three game suspensions stretching back to the final qualifying game.
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