Ghana will look to deal South Africa’s 2022 World Cup hopes a major blow when the teams meet in a Group G qualifier at the Cape Coast Stadium on Sunday, 13h00 GMT.
The equation is very simple for South Africa : they come into the game with a three-point lead over Ghana at the top of the standings and know that a win will mathematically secure a place in the last qualification stage.
A draw will leave them three points clear and automatically advance to as only defeat at the hands of the Black Stars will prevent SA from becoming one of the 10 teams in the playoff round next year.
As for Ghana, a win is their only chance of making to the next and final round of qualification and just a step to the World Cup finals in Qatar.
It all seems set up for a glorious home win for Ghana, who would love nothing more than to seal a fifth World Cup appearance in front of their fans, having already outplayed big teams at the same venue.
Yet coach Milovan Rajevac has admitted that South Africa will pose a stern threat and has warned his team not to underestimate Bafana Bafana.
Everything will be decided on Sunday, so it is important that we win our next match with a two-goal difference if we want to qualify for the next round,” said Rajevac.
“We have to concentrate on the following [SA] game and do what it takes to win that game.”
Following their impressive 1-0 over Zimbabwe in the previous match, South Africa head to Ghana with a quiet confidence that they can upset the West African giants.
But their coach Hogo Broos as his team labored to labored to get the victory against the Warriors.
“I am happy with the result, but not the performance,” explained Broos. “The opponent was more aggressive, they were better on the ball and we were a little bit soft today, I don’t know why. Lucky for us that it was 1-0 and they did not score, because they had chances also.”
He added, “We are in a good position to go to Ghana, but we have to know that the performance has to be much better on Sunday, because we play against a much better team also.”
The teams have met 15 times according to FIFA’s statistics database, with South Africa claiming five wins compared to four for Black Stars. Their last meeting was in September in Soweto, where Bafana Bafana claimed a 1-0 home win.
The other Group G match between already eliminated sides Zimbabwe and Ethiopia will be played simultaneously at the National Stadium in Harare.
