Ghana defender John Paintsil in a celebratory mood
By Ameenu Shardow
Defender John Paintsil insists he has no preference of the team Ghana should play at the semi-finals of the 2013 Nations Cup.
The Black Stars booked their place in the last four of the competition being staged in South Africa with a hardfought 2-0 win over Cape Verde on Saturday.
A brace by midfielder Mubarak Wakaso ensured that Ghana equaled Nigeria’s record for four consecutive qualifications to the semi finals of the prestigious tournament.
The Black Stars now face the prospect of playing against a very physical Burkina Faso team or a highly talented and relatively unknown Togo who engage each other in Sunday’s quarter-final match.
Paintsi, 31, however is adamant the team is only focused on winning the semi-final game rather than bother itself on the opponent the Black Stars will be facing on Wednesday.
“All we know is that we are playing in the semi final and therefore don’t mind who comes our way,” he told GHANAsoccernet.com.
“We are ready to play any side we meet and ensure we qualify to the finals.”
IT WAS CLEAR THE COULDNT HANDLE THE SPEED OF THE CAPE VERDEAN WINGER. AA SHOULD START AKAMINKO ON THE RIGHT. GYAN, ASANTE, WAKASSO MUST ALL COME IN AS SUBS TO ADD A SECIND GEAR. WHERE IS AWAL AND JONATHAN MENSAH? TOGO WILL BEAT BURKINA
Like seriously you are comfortable with Jerry Akaminko playing right back? Based on how jittery he looked in our first game his confidence is so low, so not a good idea. I believe Afful should play RB and Kissi Boateng LB. I think Solomon Asante is too good to be sitting on the bench. I fear Togo will beat us in semi final. We might meet Mali for 3rd place again just like last year.
may god guids ghana to sucssed amen nd bless ghana land thank u
Foolish! With that standard of play against Cape Verde, u shud mind!
GHANA HAS BEEN TO FOUR CONSECUTIVE FINALS 1963, 1965, 1968 AND 1970, SO SOCCERNET STOP THIS EQUAL NIGERIA THING…..THEY ARE YET TO EQUAL OURS OF FOUR STRAIGHT FINALS
Hope Ghana will meet Burkina in semi finals and we will beat them by 2-1.God will help Ghana.
The best team is going home – Antunes
03 Feb 2013 12:17:20
Cape Verde Islands coach Lúcio Antunes says the best team in the tournament are going home.
Antunes was referring to his side that fell to a 2-0 loss at the hands of African powerhouses Ghana in their Africa Cup of Nations match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The Islanders dominated large parts of the encounter, and the game changed just after the break when Ghana were awarded a controversial penalty and The Black Stars never looked back.
Cape Verde threw every player forward in desperate search of an equaliser and were caught out on the break, handing Ghana their second goal.
“Today we watched a beautiful game of soccer, unfortunately the best team is going home tomorrow so the tournament is going to lose a little bit of shine,” said Antunes after the game.
Antunes went on to question the match officiating.
“Today was our fourth game of the tournament, never were there questions of the first, second and third. Now the questions come.”
Antunes sarcastically said nobody would want to watch Cape Verde in the last four and that is why the Ghanians were going through.
“Although the score was 2-0 Cape Verde really did put Ghana under pressure, especially in the second half they had a lot of stress. Do you think this result is fair?
“The result is fair because Ghana win the match. I don’t think there would be very big interest for the tournament if Cape Verde for example was to play with Togo in front of maybe 200 spectators. It is important for the tournament that Ghana stays on to the semifinals.”
The coach questioned the objectivity of the referee, and also the selection of the officials.
According to Antunes, even local South Africans would be disappointed that Cape Verde was eliminated.
“Cape Verde is the best team of this tournament, and there are lots of South Africans even crying that Cape Verde is out of this tournament. “The positives that I’m taking from this is that Cape Verde is not worse than any of the other teams, in fact Cape Verde is as good as any of the big teams here.”
as good as any of the shit teams you mean. A team that plays delay tactics right from the first half when the game is nill all.
Ghana was chasing shadows against Carpe Verdi we saw it and u know it…but their lack of experince allowed u to win however Burkina Faso wont give that lucky escape…don’t say u were not warned!!!
Ghana played school-boy soccer against a well-organised Carpe Verdi….uhhh,now i know what it means winning UGLY!!