Ghana have been given a tough group at the World Cup 2014, as they will be playing against Germany, Portugal, and the USA in the group stages.
Despite being one of the strongest African teams, this could jeopardise their chances of going to the knockout stages of the tournament. This is the feeling of AC Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari, who was on the scoresheet in the last two editions of the competition. The former Portsmouth man is regarded as one of the important members in the team following the absence of Michael Essien.
Once regarded as the mainstay of Ghana's midfield, Essien quality has somewhat decreased in recent years due to the several injuries he has suffered in the last few years. As a result, Muntari has become the key member of Ghana's midfield. The 29-year-old says that the Black Stars have a tough task ahead of them in order to even reach the knockout stages. He says that Germany and Portugal are rightly getting all the attention, but that should not take away attention from the USA, who he regards as one of the dark horses.
Ghana's first match will be against the United States in a match where three points would mean a lot since the two teams then play against Germany and Portugal.
“I was a little surprised at the pairings we got for the games in Brazil. We have to respect the teams we will face in the World Cup. The draw gave us Germany, who are very good and we also got Portugal and the United States. I can understand the attention on Germany and Portugal but the USA will be equally difficult to beat. We have beaten them twice at the World Cup so they would also want to get back at us. They will be difficult to beat as it is our third meeting," said Muntari.