Soccer News of Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Source: GFA

Gyan: Black Stars not looking beyond quarters

Ghana are not thinking about a last four place ahead of their quarter-final 2013 Africa Cup of Nations game against Cape Verde on Saturday as they aim only to get the result they need.

The Black Stars, four-time champions finished tops in Group B to set up quarter-final clash with the debutants, Cape Verde, but not even that assures them a place in the last four.

According to team captain, Asamoah Gyan, their focus is just on the West African islanders who finished runners up in Group A ahead of Morocco and Angola.

“We came here with the mentality of doing well in this Nations Cup. The players agree. Anytime we are on the field, we don’t think about the next opponent, we focus on the opponent that we are playing,” Gyan said Monday night in Port Elizabeth.

“We are thinking about the next game [Cape Verde]. We have to take each game at a time and make sure we do better for the nation.

“The players are happy and the confidence level is growing but all we need to do is take each game at a time.”

Gyan scored his first goal at this year's finals when he led Ghana to beat Niger 3-0 on Monday in the final group match.

The striker struck an angled shot in the 6th minute before playing a crucial role in setting up Christian Atsu's goal while John Boye sealed victory after pouncing onto Gyan's header which was spilled by the goalkeeper.

For the Ghana captain, he is more concerned about seeing the team win than pursuing personal glory.

“As I said earlier I like to play for the team. As a striker definitely people will be expecting you to score,” Gyan said.

“But my ambition is to help my team to win. Anytime I can’t score I try to open chances for my colleagues to score.

“I said to myself the right time will come and I think today was the right time.

“I don’t like to speak for myself; I like to speak for the team. I didn’t do it alone. Everybody worked together, we fought together and victory came by itself.

“I like to be on the winning side and that’s happened.”