Ghana captain John Mensah urges calm after Zambia defeat

By Patrick Akoto

Ghana captain John Mensah has challenged his team-mates to overcome Saturday’s defeat to Zambia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

The Black Stars were beaten 1-0 by the African Champions at their newly constructed Levy Mwanawasa stadium despite putting up a solid second half display.

Christopher Katongo’s 15^th minute deflected strike was enough for the Zambians as they edged past their Ghanaian counterpart in an exciting thriller watched by a 40,000 vociferous crowd.

The result has left group D wide open after Sudan laboured to a goalless draw at Lesotho.

The Black Stars are keen to qualify for a third successive World Cup appearance and the experienced centre-back has urged his colleagues to remain focus.

“I don’t think we should be worried at all. There is no need to start talking about changes,” Mensah said

“We are a strong team with great mental ability. We’ll surely overcome this defeat to Zambia and return to winning ways.

“We knew it was going to be difficult. But unfortunately a lot of things didn’t work for us on the day.

“We have to pause for a moment and reflect on what happened and where we went wrong in the game. We respect Zambia, but I believe we will qualify to the World Cup at their expense,”