Ghana’s assistant coach Maxwell Konadu knows the Black Stars were expected to win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations by home supporters but he insists they are playing for more than pride in Saturday’s third-place playoff.
The match in Port Elizabeth is a repeat of last year’s bronze medal decider against Mali, where the Eagles claimed third place in the tournament with a 2-0 victory.
The two sides have already met in this year’s competition in Group B when Ghana triumphed 1-0 in a tight encounter. Mubarak Wakaso’s first-half penalty was the only difference in the hard-fought match.
However, despite the weight of expectation from Black Stars fans and after seeing their title ambitions blown, Konadu knows Saturday’s meeting with Mali is important – and not just in the form of a revenge mission.
He told ghanaweb.com: “Everyone back home was expecting us to win the Cup, but it didn’t happen.
“But all is not lost. We will go out and fight against Mali for third place, and then re-organise ourselves for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
“It’s our responsibility to motivate the team, to encourage them. We’ll do our best.”
Ghana missed out on a chance to make it to the final after they were beaten 3-2 on penalties by Burkina Faso while Mali were thrashed 4-1 by Nigeria in their semi-final. – itv
