Technical director of the senior national men soccer team Black Stars, Francis Oti-Akenteng has urged the stars to focus on making the needed efforts to beat Tunisia in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, rather than thinking of triumphing with luck.
A 2-0 win in their last group F match against the Wild Dogs of Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday made Ghana victors of the group to set up round of 16 clash against the Cartage Eagles who settled with a 0-0 draw with Mauritania to finish runners-up of group E.
The Black Stars started the tournament on a very quiet note, drawing their first two matches 2-2 and 0-0 with Benin and Cameroon respectively before registering their first win of the tournament over Guinea-Bissau, and many believe that luck has sided with Ghana to have won the group to avoid Nigeria and Egypt in the knock out phase and that same luck might see them triumph over Tunisia on Monday as the two clash in search quarter final birth at the Ismailia stadium.
“When we talk luck, yes, luck is there that’s why we have the word ‘luck’, but for me I prefer the ‘effort’, Oti-Akenteng told Focal Sports on Fox FM. “If you make the effort needed to win definitely you will get it, so for I think we are on the right part”, he continued.
Oti-Akenteng further cautioned that any team that has made it through to the knock out phase of the AFCON is very strong and urged Ghana to avoid reliance on just luck in their quest to beat Tunisia.
“Anyone who have reached where we have reached now is very strong, so let’s not go and say we’re going to rely on luck, if so we won’t have it easy, the kind of work we need to do our coaches and the boys we must try to do it on the pitch, if we do it and put everything right, if we have to pass short then we pass short, if we have to pass long then we pass long, if we have to dribble then we dribble, if you are not supposed to do zonal marking in the 18 yard box and you do zonal marking there then you are bringing a problem, can you get your luck there?, so we need to do our things they way we’ve arranged”, he urged.
Ghana have history backing them in the tournament in matches against the Cartage Eagles of Tunisia, having won five of their previous six meetings with one ending in a draw. However, Oti-Akenteng has warned the Black Stars against complacency based on the history and the statistics as Tunisia may cause a first-time upset.
“Our history tells us that the Tunisians cannot match us but we should not follow the history, it helps us to remember things, but remember that there is always the first time, so we need to strive to continue do the work we are doing to outmuscle the Tunisians”, Oti-Akenteng warned.