Hon. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah is urging a united front as Ghana fervently bid for a third successive appearance at football’s World Cup so much the Minister of Sports personally initiated and led a prayer session for the national team after their training session at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Present along with former Black Stars greats, Tony Baffoe, Sammy Kuffour, CK Akunnor, Augustine Ahinful and others, Hon. Afriyie Ankrah asked the former players to hold hands with the current team members as he personally prayed powerfully asking God to help the nation overcome the chronic failure to win silverware spanning more than three decades.

“My brothers, I bring you greetings from His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama who sends his best wishes. “We all know the task ahead of us this Sunday and even beyond and I urge you to use the occasion to win over the support of Ghanaians again,” the Sports Minister told the Black Stars.

He continued: “You are our stars, you are the Stars of Ghana. If you look at flag of Ghana, we have the red, gold, green and black stars in the middle.

“You represent the heart, soul and spirit of the nation so you carry the spirit of the nation. The spirit of all our leaders, Osagyefo, Rawlings, Kufuor, Atta Mills, all our ancestors are behind you. The people of this country are fully behind you, we support you.”

He added: “We want you to put the disappointment of the Africa Cup behind you and forge ahead because we have more battles ahead. “The true test of a champion is the one who falls and rises again. So I hope it will spur you on to beat Sudan, beat Lesotho and everyone and go to the World Cup.

“I believe on Sunday we’ll begin the journey to bring the smiles back on the faces of Ghanaians.”