Ghana will be making their tenth successive AFCON appearance on Sunday evening when they lock horns with Cape Verde in an epic Group B cracker at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan.
Ghana after exiting the competition in the round of 16 in 2019- halting their pleasant record of always making it to the semis since 2008, made it even more shambolic after exiting the 2021 AFCON from the group stage, having finished at the bottom of the group with just a point.
However, Cape Verde for the second time in their history, qualified from the group stage with their first happening in 2013- where they got evicted in the quarter final by the same opponent (Ghana), thanks to a brace from Mubarak Wakaso, and will look to cruise into the knockout phase once more this time around.
The Black Stars had an unbeaten run in the qualifiers, with three wins and three draws, having finished as winners of Group E that comprised of Angola, Central African Republic and Madagascar, with 12 points.
The four-time champions touched down in Abidjan last Wednesday after spending over a week camping in Kumasi and warmed themselves up with a friendly against Namibia- in a game that ended goalless last Friday at the Baba Yara Stadium.
In contrast, Cape Verde lost the top spot in Group B of the qualifiers to Burkina Faso with just a point, having amassed 11 points from three wins, two loses and a draw.
The Blue Sharks have lost three of their last five games with the recent one being a 2-0 loss to Tunisia in Rades- a fixture to test their strength since they have a North African opposition in the group.
TEAM NEWS
Coach Chris Hughton is without key players like Thomas Partey, Joseph Aidoo, Tariq Lamptey, Daniel Kofi Kyereh and goalkeeper Abdul Manaf Nurudeen, heading into the tournament all due to injuries.
Also, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Baba Abdul Rahman also asked to be excluded from the final squad despite making the provisional one.
Another blow is that, starman and inform West Ham United midfielder Kudus Mohammed, despite training with the team in the last couple of days, is still doubtful for the game.
On the opposition end, Cape Verde head coach Bubista has no any major absentees and will definitely count so much on goalkeeper Vozinha, captain Rayan Mendez, Garry Rodriguez, former Man United attacker Bebe, who are the most experienced figures in his current squad.
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KICKOFF: 20:00GMT (8:00pm)
