Black Stars technical advisor, Chris Hughton has urged fans of Ghana’s men’s team not to “get carried away” with their expectations ahead of next month’s World Cup.
With the tournament in Qatar just 26 days away, anticipation is ramping up globally and locally as well.
Although the team’s form under the management of Otto Addo has been far from impeccable, there’s some hope that Ghana might be able to grind out good enough results, just as they did against Nigeria to qualify.
The Black Stars do have some recent World Cup pedigree, especially on the continent, given the fact that they are one of only three African sides to make it to the quarter-finals.
They were also a converted penalty kick away from a semi-final spot in 2010.
There’s some belief that the team under Addo and the rest of the current technical body could star at yet another World Cup.
However, Hughton, in an interview with the Dailymail, was a little more restrained, stating that it will be a tough campaign for the Black Stars, who go to Qatar as the tournament’s lowest-ranked side.
Although he insists that he believes in the abilities of the players and his coaching team, Hughton says a lot of hard work will need to be done to make it out of a tough group.
“It is difficult in a way. I’m confident in the squad and the coaching staff, but part of my role should be to be realistic. Not to dampen expectations, but to speak honestly,” he said.
“We are where we are, the lowest-seeded team in a group of four – and it’s a tough group. In my conversations with people, I encourage them not to get too carried away, but this is the World Cup. They [the federation] will be expecting us to do well. So will the country. It’s a cup competition and we have to be confident.”
Ghana will face Portugal in their first game on November 24, before taking on South Korea four days later.
The Black Stars’ final group game is against Uruguay on December 2.