Ghana’s World Cup group opponents, Australia, were sending their assistant coach Graham Arnold to spy on the Black Stars at the African Cup of Nations in Angola but he has chickened out because of safety concerns.

Arnold was due to be in Angolan enclave of Cabinda to watch the Black Stars play Togo but has withdrawn in the wake of the attack on the Togolese which killed three people.

Arnold was also scheduled to attend the tournament on a World Cup scouting mission but officials decided not to send him because of issues with security, says the Australian Football Federation (FFA).

The logistics of travelling to Cabinda, where Group B - comprising Togo Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso - is based has also conspired against the surreptitious activities of the Australians.

"We just felt it wasn't safe, but it's horrible to be proven right," said John Boultbee, the FFA's head of national teams.

"Initially, we had plans for Graham to attend Togo's game against Ghana because Ghana is in our pool at the World Cup but when we had a closer look at it we decided not to send him on security grounds.

"It was a game we felt was important to be at because Graham would have had the opportunity to assess Ghana at full strength in a competitive tournament, but not at any cost.

"The fact they were playing in this enclave was of concern as it is quite a remote area and would have required either flying there in a very small aircraft or travelling by land across the Congo, and we just thought that wasn't the right thing to ask someone to do.

“Of course, we weren't expecting anything like this to happen but when the news came through there was a little bit of relief that we hadn't sent anyone.''

Instead of travelling to Angola, Arnold flew to Manchester after last week's Asian Cup qualifying match in Kuwait, and will now study video footage of Ghana's matches in the African Cup of Nations.