Ghana brace for the Elephants

• Black Stars know they have a great chance to top the group of three

Cabinda, Angola

Ghana’s Black Stars and the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire are preparing as best they can for Friday’s crucial encounter in Group B – overshadowed as it is by the ominous absence of Togo.

A game which was long looked forward to as the highlight of the entire group stage at the Africa Cup of Nations will go ahead as planned, but the build-up has been very different.

This was expected to be a thrilling and special group with all four teams coming from West Africa, and including two World Cup qualifiers, but the departure of Togo has cast a long shadow.

“We and Togo are like brothers, it’s painful what happened,” Ghana star Andre “Dede” Ayew told the BBC’s African sports programme Fast Track.

Training has been continuing as normal but the remaining squads are kept under strict security in the players’ village and only move with a large armed escort.

“Everyone was afraid I think, it got to a point where you think about your security, but the people here assured us, our big men assured us, and for us it was much easier [to stay] than for the Togolese,” Ayew said.

Watching the Black Stars squad training on Tuesday just outside the Chiazi Stadium in Cabinda it was obvious that everyone was delighted to concentrate on football.

And with Cote d’Ivoire surprisingly drawing their opening match against Burkina Faso, Ghana know they have a great chance to top the group.

“When you are on the field you forget about everything and everyone needs to fight for a position in the quarter-finals,” Ayew told the BBC.

“[Cote d’Ivoire are] a great team, they are the favourites in this tournament no doubt, so we have to give them respect – but we all want to succeed for our nation.”

With only three teams left in the group and the opening match finishing with a draw, a win over the Ivorians is all that is needed for the Black Stars to go through to the quarter-finals.

Ghana have yet to play a game in this year’s Nations Cup after their opening match against Togo was cancelled following the departure of their West African neighbours after the deadly gun attack on their bus.

Despite the awful circumstances of this group, Ghana still want to lay down a marker for the competition.

Ghana have meanwhile been refused permission to switch the venue of their last group game from Luanda to Cabinda, a Ghana FA spokesman said yesterday. The team wanted to remain in the northern enclave for Tuesday’s game against Burkina Faso.

Request not granted

“We asked the Confederation of African Football to stay in Cabinda for this last game but our request has not been granted,” the spokesman said.

The Caf decision means that if Ghana finish top of the group they will have to fly back to Cabinda for their quarter-final. However, they will remain in Luanda if they end up in second place. (BBC Sports and Reuters)