Soccer News of Tuesday, 13 December 2005

Source: GNA

Stars need self-believe and adequate preparation for W. Cup - O. B. Amoah

Accra, Dec. 13, GNA - Mr. O. B. Amoah, a Deputy Minister of Education and Sports has observed that the level of preparation and self-believe would determine how far the Black Stars would progress at next summer's World Cup in Germany. The Stars were drawn in group E with Italy, the Czech Republic and the United States of America.

The Deputy Minister told the GNA Sports in Accra that Italy and Czech Republic may look favourites on paper "but it's for us to go there and proof to the world that we have arrived." He said most of the boys of the current Black Stars have played some of the teams at the junior level and coupled with the fact that "most of our boys now play in high-profile leagues, we should be able to rise up to the occasion."

Mr Amoah who led a team of Ghanaian officials to the draw in Leipzig in Germany said the key ingredients now were preparation and self-believe adding that once these two factors were catered for, the sky should be limit for the Black Stars. His point was buttressed by Mr Joe Baidoo-Ansah, Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Education and Sports who said Ghana has no option than to accept the challenge and prepare adequately for the event.

Giving an analogy of a student preparing to write a difficult examination, Mr Baidoo-Ansah said the pairings should help the team and it's technical handlers to step-up their preparation to "shake the world."