Ghana eye redemption in Brazzaville

Ghana will need nothing but victory at the Stade Municipal de Kintélé in Brazzaville today against Congo, if they are to keep their slim hopes of reaching the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia alive.

Kick-off is at 3:30pm local time (4:30 CAT).

The Black Stars suffered a crippling blow in the reverse fixture last Friday, as their opponents held them to a 1-1 draw in Kumasi. The result did neither country any favour as their respective World Cup dreams seem to be all but over.

Thievy Bifouma opened the scoring in the, but Ghana were able to conjure a point as Thomas Party found a late equaliser for the hosts.

Uganda head into the fourth round of fixtures atop Group E following their 1-0 win over Egypt in Kampala. The Pharaohs host the Cranes in the reverse fixture in Alexandria this evening.

Ghana head coach Kwesi Appiah has come under serious fire following the Black Stars disappointing showing last week.

Desperate to qualify for a fourth World Cup in succession, Appiah knows the importance of the upcoming clash and despite Ghana’s precarious position – the former international still harbours hopes of qualifying for the showpiece.

“It’s very disappointing to drop points at this crucial stage of the qualifiers but in football you can never say never,” said Appiah. “The most important thing is to try and do the best you can.

“Sometimes in football these things happen and we are not happy with the result, but we have to move on and prepare for the return leg on Tuesday,”

“We will go back to the drawing board and see what happened and try to win our next three matches,” he concluded.

Asamoah Gyan remains a doubt for the clash with the Black Stars skipper having left the field with a suspected groin injury just after the hour mark.

Moreover, Harrison Afful is expected to start at right-back following a competitive debut to forget for Joseph Larweh.

The two teams have crossed swords on 13 previous occasions with Ghana coming up trumps on nine occasions compared to a single win for the Red Devils – who haven’t beaten the West. Africans in over 50 years.

Three of their previous encounters ended all square.