Black Stars Captain, Stephen Appiah, and his band of foreign legion will have to play above average on Sunday if they hope to redeem the sinking image of Ghana soccer.

As the senior national team take on The Cranes of Uganda in a crucial Nations Cup qualifier at Kumasi, the Black Stars will be doing so against a background of profound scepticism among Ghanaians.

The state of uncertainty surrounding the fate of the national team was compounded after a rude awakening for Ghanaians last Friday when the Harambee Stars of Kenya trounced the Black Stars 3-1 in a friendly at the Accra Stadium. If there was any grim reminder of the tortuous journey for Ghana to undertake en route to Tunisia 2004, then last Friday’s results should be it.

For many Ghanaians, the defeat was as humiliating as it can get. Having already lost 0-1 to the Ugandans in the first leg qualifiers CAN 2004, Ghanaians are beginning to get concerned over the chances of their team making it to the biennial continental fiesta.

The Ugandans will be tackling Sunday’s match like a hunter approaches a wounded lion on the loose. After losing 0-1 to Rwanda last week, Uganda’s Argentine coach, Pedro Pablo Pasculli, sounded a warning that his team had been left with no other option than to defeat the Stars in Kumasi to qualify for Tunisia 2004.

The threat by the Ugandan coach should not be lost on the Stars and that is why the less-than-positive attitude to training being exhibited by the foreign-based players should be very disturbing.

Veteran Edward Ansah, who was initially dragged into the team as a goalkeepers’ coach, now looks more like the first choice goalkeeper in Coach Burkhard Ziese’s line-up.

Ansah was in the post for the Stars in their last two matches, losing 3-1 to Nigeria and Kenya respectively. The debacle of Abuja and Accra should inform Ziese that this is not the time to gamble with player selection and tactics.

The Coach is giving out very little clues except for the assurance that the Stars will win their remaining matches. That is easier said than done.

For the Black Stars as well as the Ugandans, it is a win-or-burst situation as nothing short of victory in Kumasi will save them. Hence, the dicey nature of Sunday’s match.