Black Galaxies coach Annor Walker is highly optimistic of a win over Niger for his side to reach the semi-final of the 2022 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) in Algeria.
Ghana will be battling out with their West African counterparts in the quarter-final stage of the competition at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium in Oran on Friday.
The two-time finalists of the tourney will be facing Niger without top striker Daniel Afriyie Barnieh who was red-carded in their last game which makes him unavailable for the clash in the Algerian city of Oran.
Barnieh, who converted a penalty to open the scoring for the Black Galaxies against Sudan, was sent off for a dangerous challenge in the 97th minute.
The Hearts of Oak attacker is expected to be replaced by Augustine Boakye, Abdul Razak Yusif or Kwame Otu upfront as the Black Galaxies look to equal or better their past achievements at the CHAN that saw them reach the final twice in 2009 and 2014.
“Every coach needs his top man. Barnieh is out of the game tomorrow. It is a blow but all the same if he is not there, I have the players to do the job," Walker said at the pre-match press conference on Friday.
"They will not be like him, but I have trust in every player that I have here. Perhaps, it is good that he is not there so that we also see what the others can offer. Whoever replaces him should do his best so that we do not feel his absence.
The calm and collected Walker emphasized that: “We do not have pressure. It is our responsibility as a team to work together to make the Ghanaians happy. I have spoken to the players, and I have been with them for one year. We have been working towards this moment. They know what to do. If they put pressure on me, I will also put it on them (Annor joked which a big smile).”
The Ghanaian tactician showed respect for his opponents when he said, “Niger has surprised everyone. There is one reason that they won. They took the advantage against Cameroon, and they progressed to the quarterfinals.”
The Black Galaxies lost their opening game 2-1 to tournament debutants Madagascar before redeeming themselves with an emphatic 3-1 win over Sudan to book a place in the last eight.
Ghana have not been in action for eight days since the latter game, but Annor is not worried about his players’ match fitness. He said, “Of course, we were not sleeping. We knew that we had a game ahead of us and we have been preparing accordingly.”
