Ghana wary of Flames

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah has said he is aware of threat posed by the Flames having chalked some impressive results in their recent 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

Appiah turned his attention firmly on the Flames after the two sides were drawn to face each other in the final qualifier for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kwesi Nyantakyi also said they will prepare for their clash with Malawi as if they were playing Brazil.

“Before the draw, I said any country that has reached this stage of the qualifiers is no pushover. We are aware of the threat Malawi possess,” Appiah said.

“Recently, we saw how an improved side they are against Nigeria and Kenya.

“I always say in these modern days, there are no minnows, so we are aware we need to be on guard and prepare well to edge them out and pick the slot for the Nations Cup finals.

“We have already started preparations as, with the permission of the GFA, I recently returned from monitoring some of our players abroad.

“Now that we know our opponents in Malawi, we are going to divert our attention solely towards them for the two games in September and October,” Appiah told Soccernet.

Meanwhile, the Ghana FA head said: “We are going to play them as if we were playing Brazil, England, Zambia or Egypt or any of Africa’s top teams.” 

“The preparations we will put in place will in no way underrate Malawi,” Nyantakyi told BBC Sport.

“On paper, Ghana stands streets ahead of Malawi, we have the track record. We have been to the Nations Cup so many times. We have won it four times. We have been to two successive World Cups, Malawi has none of this.

“But we must also lace our optimism with caution that there can be surprises at any time. Who expected CAR to beat seven-time champions Egypt?”

“We know Malawi can qualify, so complacency will not be part of our vocabulary.”

Malawi not in cold sweat

Meanwhile, Flames coach Kinnah Phiri has said he is not in a cold sweat having been drawn against Ghana.

“I was praying that we should be drawn against a team such as Ghana who have never been here in a long time. The last time they came here was when they walloped us 12-0, but that was about 50 years ago.

“The other thing I am happy about is that we’ll play away first and that puts as at an advantage. I am happy that my prayers have been answered,” said Kinnah.

He added: “As a nation, all we need to do is join hands and make sure that we prepare for Ghana thoroughly.”

The Flames coach said he would have to play at least three friendly matches before the Ghana first leg showdown.

Ghana will play Malawi on the weekend of September 7-9 most likely in Accra before flying to Blantyre for the return leg in October.