Ghana step up preps for Flames
Ghana’s Black Stars have lined up an international friendly match against China next month as part of their preparations for September’s 2013 Africa Cup of Nations final qualification round first leg against the Flames.
However, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has said there is no cause for worry as it has also stepped up the drive to arrange a strength-testing match for the Flames against an undisclosed team.
According to a report carried by BBC, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) announced this week that the Black Stars will face China on August 15 in Beijing.
FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda on Tuesday said they are in the process of finalising an international friendly match for the Flames.
“There is no cause for worry as we are working out something and we should come out clearly with the details pertaining to the friendly by next week,” said Nyirenda.
He also hinted that the Flames are most likely to play next month’s international friendly at home.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu says Ghana’s announcement that they will face China next month comes as a surprise in the wake of CAF’s announcement that August 15 had been struck out from Fifa’s calendar for international friendlies.
“We have heard about that and it comes as a big surprise and there appears to be conflicting message because CAF are saying August 15 is no longer on Fifa calendar.
“So, we are also pursuing a friendly match around the same time because we do not want to be caught unawares.
“We are trying our best to secure an international friendly match in which we’ll use local-based players in order to tune up for the Ghanaians,” said Nyamilandu.
The FAM president said the arrangement would suit the Flames since the bulk of the team are now local-based players.
Nyamilandu, himself a former Flames sweeper, also played down Ghana’s friendly match against China saying they do not stand to gain much.
“I don’t think they stand to gain much from playing China in preparation for the Flames, it might be a mere excursion,” he said.
Flames coach Kinnah Phiri also expressed optimism about securing a build-up match.
“I have been assured by FAM that we’ll definitely secure a friendly and much as Ghana are a strong side, I am not moved by their choice for an international friendly match.
“I am just hoping that things will work out as planned and that we should be able to play a friendly match before we face them,” said Kinnah.
Recently, Ghana FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi said Ghana will prepare for Malawi as if they were playing Brazil.
“We are going to play them as if we were playing Brazil, England, Zambia or Egypt or any of Africa’s top teams,” Nyantakyi told BBC Sport.
“The preparations we will put in place will in no way underrate Malawi.”
He added: “On paper, Ghana stands streets ahead of Malawi—we have the track record. We’ve been to the Nations Cup so many times, we’ve won it four times, we’ve been to two successive World Cups, Malawi has none of this.
“But we must also lace our optimism with caution that there can be surprises at any time. Who expected CAR to beat seven-time champions Egypt?”
“We know Malawi can qualify, so complacency will not be part of our vocabulary.”
QUICK FACTS
—Ghana will face the Flames in the first leg of the 2013 Afcon final round of qualification during the weekend of September 7-8.
—Ghana have won the Africa Cup of Nations four times whereas the Flames have never won it before.
—They were the only African team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup staged in South Africa.
—The last time the Flames faced Ghana was in January 2010 in Swaziland in an international friendly match that ended goalless.
