Former Ghana and Asante Kotoko coach Mariano Barreto is wary of the threat posed by the Black Stars ahead of their 2022 World Cup opener against Portugal on Thursday.
The two sides are set to lock horns at Stadium 974 in a mouthwatering Group H encounter.
The Black Stars landed in Qatar as the lowest ranked side in the competition, 61st in the FIFA World Rankings, however as their past performances have shown they will prove more than a match for whoever they play.
“The Ghanaians have some big imbalances, because they are very skillful with the ball. If we don’t contain some of the main units, we will have a lot of difficulty. I think it is much more complicated for Portugal to face African teams, whose idea is not to have a lot of possession, but attacking and scoring when they win the ball. That’s what differentiates them. Ghana will play very objective football, with the aim of trying to play very close to the Portuguese goal. This is certainly what our team will have to worry about,” Barreto said.
“There are a lot of players with great experience in European football, and some play in reference clubs. Ghana constituted an individually strong group, but had little time to consolidate a team. For example, the Portuguese national team has a group composed of a selector who has been there for eight years. For all intents and purposes, he has been there long enough to have already transmitted an idea of the game and built a working group that responds to all his intentions,” he added.
