Stars in make-or-break affair
A sell-out crowd is anticipated at the 67,037 capacity Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza tomorrow when Ghana's Black Stars seek to redefine their destiny at Brazil 2014 against group favourites Germany at 7p.m. Ghana time.
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The Stars find themselves deep in a make-or-break quagmire after falling 1-2 to the USA in their group opener last Monday, putting immense pressure on Coach Kwasi Appiah to get result against the rampaging German Machine which ran riot 4-0 against an equally fancied Portugal last Monday.
A disappointed Kwasi Appiah admitted that the Stars could have done better against the US but for a momentary loss of concentration on the part of his players.
But on paper, Germany clearly present a stronger opposition than the Americans, thus requiring a more serious approach by the Ghanaians in tomorrow's crucial encounter.
Surely, the game will be interesting for many reasons as soccer-crazy German fans are expected to completely overshadow the handful of Ghanaian supporters as was the case with enthusiastic American fans in the Natal circus.
The Fortaleza battle will be a repeat of the Group D clash between the two sides in South Africa four years ago which went 1-0 in favour of the Germans, courtesy a Mezut Ozil strike.
The game also provides another interesting setting for a second 'Brothers' Act' between Jerome and Kevin-Prince in opposite camps.
The two blood brothers are tipped to feature in this all-important match as they form an integral part of their respective teams.
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Considering the crucial nature of the match to Ghana especially, Coach Appiah has no choice than to start his attacking ace this time around after impressing against the US after coming on for Jordan Ayew in the second half.
Similarly, Joachim Loew will likely use Jerome who has been a key component of his defensive set-up for sometime now as part of his plot to stop the hungry bunch of the Stars attackers
To survive against the Germans, the Stars coach surely needs to reshuffle his cards and present a formidable squad built around battle-tested players other than mere triers.
A high profile game like this one requires the quality of players such as Michael Essien, Boateng, Kwadwo Asamoah, Asamoah Gyan, Dede Ayew, Christian Atsu, and others all playing in their favourite positions unlike what happened against the USA.
Coach Appiah might have learnt his lessons since that avoidable defeat to the Yankees as he went back straight to the drawing board in their Maceio base that same night to prepare for Germany.