The ex-Fulham defender has lauded the unity within the Ghana camp and believes that could earn them a fifth Nations Cup trophy

Ex-Ghana rearguard John Paintsil is optimistic the Black Stars will win the Africa Cup of Nations 2015 trophy on Sunday.

Ghana beat hosts Equatorial Guinea 3-0 in a violence-marred semi-final and set up a final clash with giants Ivory Coast.

The police had to fire teargas to restore order at the stadium after the home crowd chased the Ghanaian fans to the inner parameter with projectiles.

“Ghana play as a team. They respect each other and their opponents. They are showing hunger and a desire to succeed. The team is united and they have a common goal to succeed,” the former West Ham defender told his club, Maritzburg United’s, official website.

“The thing with Ghana is that it doesn’t matter where you come from, the NFD, the third division, and league or country, when you arrive in the national team set-up, everyone welcomes you and everyone is equal.

“There has been a great spirit of unity for some time now in the group. We have a lot of very good players, but no superstars.”

He opined: “My advice for the players on Sunday would be to go out and enjoy the game and to approach it like any other match and keep doing what has brought them success to now.

“It’s going to be an interesting one. Back in 2008, both Ghana and Ivory Coast were expected to play in the final, but ended up playing in the third place play-off. So now it’s almost like a rematch because they get to meet again, but this time in the final.”