(William Ezah, GNA Special Correspondent, Johannesburg, South Africa)

Accra, June 25, GNA - Fred Pappoe, Vice President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), insists the qualification of the Black Stars to the next stage of the competition was on merit and not due to the performance of other group members.

"We deserve a place in the 1/16 stage because we fought for it. We were not aided by the results of the other teams in the group as people want to put out", he stated.

"We beat Serbia to get the three maximum points, and drew with Australia and both results were due to our efforts.

"Ghana will have packed out of the competition, if we had lost the first two games and I don't think it is fair for anyone to say we were lucky to have qualified", Pappoe added.

Pappoe, who doubles as Chairman of the Black Stars Management Committee, said the next stage of the competition is an open one and the Stars will need to put in extra effort to advance to the quarter finals. "At this stage we must win every match and the players are aware of the challenges. We are not going to drop our guard but go as far as we can", he stated.

Pappoe refused to cite any reason for the loss to Germany, saying "it was a game and we lost fairly.

"I don't think there is the need to assign reasons for our defeat but rather get back to the training grounds to correct our mistakes", Pappoe said.

The Black Stars lost by a lone goal to Germany on Wednesday, in the last Group D game at the Soccer City Stadium, but managed to advance to the next stage of the competition on superior goal difference after Australia defeated Serbia 2-1 in another group game.

The Stars now have a date with United States of America (USA) on Saturday, at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg in the 1/16 stages of the competition.