It’s a tall order for Stars — Ahinful

Former Ghanaian international, Augustine Ahinful, says the Black Stars face a difficult task in their bid to qualify for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup.

He, however, would not rule out a possibility despite the fact that Ghana trail Egypt by five points.

Ahinful noted that the Stars must now beat Congo in their next game and hope Uganda upset Egypt in order to have a chance of qualifying for their fourth consecutive global showpiece.

Ghana face a tough task to qualify for Russua 2018 after drawing goalless with Uganda at home and losing 0-2 to Egypt.

The Stars are currently third in Group E with one point, while Egypt have six points from two matches and must, therefore, win the four remaining matches to stand a chance of making it to the tournament.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports, Ahinful said, "it is a very difficult task for the Black Stars to qualify but I don't think it is impossible".

"What we need to do now is to win our next game against Congo and hope Uganda surprise Egypt so the group can be open," he added.

With the Stars’ current situation being similar to that of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers in which they lost to Burkina Faso in their first game, Ahinful, however, refused to compare the two circumstances, saying "these are two different teams and circumstances".

He stressed the need for the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to allow Coach Avram Grant to see through his contract which ends after next year's AFCON.

Talking about the upcoming AFCON in Gabon in January-February, Ahinful said it would not be an easy task, although Ghana stood a chance of winning, depending on their performance in the first game.