Soccer News of Monday, 23 January 2012

Source: goal.com

Muntari: We can’t write off any team

Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari has observed that no team should be taken for granted at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations judging from results that have been recorded so far.

One of the tournament favourites Senegal suffered shock at the hands of Zambia after a 2-1 defeat in their opening game on Saturday. Sudan outplayed another big name Cote d'Ivoire, but lost in a 1-0 group opener to the west Africans on Sunday.

The Inter player said the results are a wakeup call to countries who feel there are still underdogs in African football.

“If you look at what happened on the opening day it is easy to see you cannot write off any team,” Muntari was quoted to have said on KickOffGhana. “We are very confident but we won't be taking any team lightly.”

Ghana, four-time African champions, will open their campaign with a game against debutants Botswana on Tuesday as they seek to annex the trophy for a fifth time since they last won the title in 1982.