World Cup Favourites Brazil Poised For Battle With West African Sleeping Giants Ghana .
There is no debating that Brazil are easily one of the best teams in the world at the moment especially on current form.
Of course, that means they are also one of the favorites to lift the World Cup for a sixth time in Qatar – pressure they are used to.
Their fans and top football pundits expect them to dish out another routine samba win on Friday against the Black Stars of Ghana.
The Ghanaians are not talking much as they maintained their position in the last FIFA Coca Cola rankings.
The Black Stars were placed 60th globally and among the African contingent to Qatar, are the lowest placed.
In other words, the Black Stars are the least ranked nation ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
This scenario could actually be almost perfect for Coach Otto Addo and should be the stepping stone for the West Africans to shock their more illustrious opponents at the World Cup Finals.
That journey begins with a huge test on Friday 23rd September in Le Harve France.
But that’s where the predictions and expectations all in favor of Brazil should end.
Even though the South Americans are currently ranked number 1 in the world and yes they also secured the first slot in the South American CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, they will meet an unpredictable and dangerous Black Stars.
It means the fixture is definitely not as simple as it looks on paper nor as easy for the Brazilians.
Naturally, the focus seems to be all on Brazil especially since they are unbeaten from their qualification series with the most number of goals scored in their group 40 and least number of goals conceded….just 5.
In fact their last defeat in a major competitive match was a solitary goal loss to Argentina in the Copa America Final.
Ghana coach Otto Addo has been smart in his discussions about the game – choosing to talk about the need for good preparations rather than focusing too much on Brazil.
The former skillful Black Stars forward has an abundance of talents at his disposal – and that’s probably his biggest headache, not Brazil.
Almost every four years, we hear about the star studded Seleção (Canarinho – Little Canary) loaded with the most poetic names and always up for a fight to prove that they are indeed the best in the world.
That nobody (except Ghanaians) are giving the Black Stars much of a chance may take a huge weight of pressure off Otto Addo to play his game by unleashing something special on Friday night.
By Y.A.A. in Le Harve – France