Accra, June 18, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has requested Ghanaians to pray for the senior national team, the Black Stars as they go into this afternoon's crucial World Cup qualifier against their South African counterparts, Bafana Bafana in Johannesburg.

In a statement sent from the Office of the President's Press Secretary, the President charged the Stars to ride high on the good feeling prevailing in the country and the thirst of Ghanaians for a World Cup berth to put in a spirited fight to ensure victory.

"Government has discharged its responsibilities in the from of solid incentive package to spur the Stars on to ensure the maximum points, what is left is prayer support and total field performance from the player", Presidential Spokesperson, Kwabena Agyepong said in a media interaction.

The statement said the President at the start of the World Cup qualifiers visited the team in training and announced wide range of incentives such as increases in camping allowances and winning bonuses. It said a fortnight ago the government paid winning bonus of 4000 dollars per player and has undertaken to make each player richer by 8000 dollars when they triumph this afternoon.

"This represents a far reaching commitment from President Kufuor to the realization of Ghana's dream of qualifying for the World Cup", Agyepong added.

The Presidential spokesperson recalled President Kufuor's statement to Parliament that "When the Black Stars perform well the national mood is always lightened and when they perform badly, we all get depressed". The statement said the decider is one that requires absolute discipline, will power to win, patriotism and no complacency. 18 June 05