2022 WC: Don’t target Uruguay only – Black Stars urged
Former Ghana international, John Paintsil, has called on the Black Stars not to focus only on beating Uruguay in the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The West African country that has made a return to the Mundial has been drawn in Group H alongside Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.
The Black Stars were on the verge of becoming the first African nation to compete at the semifinal stage of the World Cup but lost a penalty shootout to Uruguay at the 2010 World Cup in a match that is best remembered for a Luis Suarez’s handball on the goal line but the subsequent penalty was missed by Asamoah Gyan.
With several Ghanaian football fans urging the team to seek revenge against the two-time world champions, Paintsil, who featured in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup believes the playing body must look beyond beating only the South American side.
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“It’s a game that anytime any Ghanaian remembers, it becomes a bit emotional,” he told Citi Sports during the Walk with the Legends organized by the Ghana Football Association [GFA] over the weekend.
“It was a game that denied us from playing in the semifinal even going to the final. I will urge my players, the Stars to take (the games) one at a time.
“It’s not only Uruguay that we are going to play in the group stage. Definitely, for Uruguay, we will beat them but they are not (the) only team we are targeting,” he added.
Ghana will commence preparations for the Mundial on November 10 in Abu Dhabi and will take on Switzerland in their final preparatory game.
The team will arrive in Qatar on November 19.