Former Black Stars skipper, Stephen Appiah on Tuesday delivered an inspirational pre-match speech to the players ahead of the emphatic 5-1 victory over Congo.

With a disappointing 1-1 game that drew jeers and boos from Kumasi fans on their minds, bonus issues unresolved and on the cusp of missing out on a fourth-successive World Cup, motivation became an essential need of the Black Stars and Appiah gave them a befitting one.

Appiah who is often regarded as Ghana’s finest captain had a simple but stimulus message for the team that was going to war without its captain.

“Forget about the problems, forget about the crowd and forget about the bonus. Make yourself proud and make Ghana proud” was the short message Appiah had for the players.

Appiah’s message seemed to have impacted on the players who went onto the pitch and displayed football that was in sharp in contrast to their performance three days earlier

The win puts Ghana on five points behind Uganda and Egypt in Group E. The Black Stars now awaits the result in the match involving Egypt and Uganda to see how the table stands after game four.

Ghana will take on Uganda on Saturday, October 7 at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala.