7 things we’ve learnt in 6 days

The senior national team are in Cairo ahead of the second leg World Cup playoff with Egypt.

The players have been in camp for six days in Turkey. Citi Sports reached the camp with the intention of finding intense, sweaty preparations.

Instead what we found were a focused, and calm group of players and officials. Here are 7 things we noticed:

1- Before we left Turkey at midnight on Sunday, one thing was clear: Stephen Appiah was a really great ambassador for Ghana in his time there. The sight of the Ghana team was usually met with a delightful “Stephen Appiah Ghana!”

2- Now we are in Cairo. So far, security has not been an issue. Egypt have been good hosts for everyone connected with the Ghana team.

3- Ghana will have just one training session in Cairo today.

4- The players are quite thankful that it’s not as cold here as it was in Istanbul. The blustery conditions and biting winds made training difficult. One senior player noted that even though this squad is mostly Euro-based, the winds in Istanbul this week for especially harsh.

5- Are you sure Kwesi Appiah is “under pressure” to get a win as we all seem to think? The guy is sporting a veneer of calm that is impressive.

6- The few Egyptians Citi Sports met and spoke to look to have given up the World Cup ghost. But they do want to beat Ghana for pride!

7- We will have a better idea of the team selection today after the last training session.


Gary Al-Smith/citifmonline.com/Egypt