Ghana Football Association's Randy Abbey claims that the nation's match with USA at the World Cup will hold key to their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition. Ghana have been given a tough draw at the World Cup 2014, as they will be up against Portugal, Germany, and the USA in the group stages.
Germany and Portugal are without doubt favourites to qualify for the knockout stages, thus leaving USA and Ghana to fight out.
Ghana's first match of the competition will be against USA.
Three points from this fixture could change the whole complexion according to Abbey. Beating USA is something that Ghana have done twice in the last two meetings between the two teams, but under Jurgen Klinsmann, this US team are determined to avoid a repeat of the same. Ghana are outside favourites to get into the final qualification spot for the knockout stages.
Abbey claims that the team will also be able to get relaxed if they get a win against USA in the first match. This would in turn help them do well in the subsequent two matches against big guns Portugal and Germany. Ghana have made an appearance in the last two world cups, while they remain as one of the first African teams to come close to winning the trophy.
“The key to our progress in the World Cup is the first game against USA. I think that the first game against USA is key and will go a long way to determine whether we will progress or not. I don’t hope for us to lose that game. It is a game we must win and I am positive minded we will win it. We need to win our first game, it is crucial. When we win that game it takes a lot of nerves off," said Abbey.