Ex-USA coach Bora Milutinovic fires warning over Ghana World Cup threat

Published on: 14 June 2014
Ex-USA coach Bora Milutinovic fires warning over Ghana World Cup threat
Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah with Bora after Ghana's win over South Korea

Former Nigeria and United States coach Bora Milutinovic warned the Americans that they will suffer a humiliating defeat at the hands of Ghana if they underrate the Black Stars in their World Cup clash on Monday.

The Americans have sparked war of words with fans of the Black Stars claiming they will stop the Ghanaians when the two sides meet in the Group of Death match.

With Germany and Portugal as the other teams in the group, the match between Ghana and the United States is a must win for either side if they are to progress to the next round of the competition.

FIFA rankings suggest Ghana is the underdog in talent-laden Group G, which also includes the No. 13-ranked United States, No. 2 Germany and No. 4 Portugal. But no one is likely to take the Black Stars lightly.

However, Ghana eliminated the USA in their previous two World Cup appearances in 2006 and 2010 and the Americans are bragging that having trained well physically they are poised for victory.

But the former America coach says Ghana will be no pushovers in the group despite being described at the Group of Death.

“They are a very good team, young, very good mentality,” former U.S. national team coach Bora Milutinovic said after watching Ghana beat South Korea.

“It will be a big challenge for all teams in this group. Everybody is very strong. It is like a small World Cup between four teams.”

The victory over the U.S. team four years ago sent Ghana into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.

Ghana was embraced as “Africa's Team” in the first World Cup on the continent and came within inches of becoming the first African squad to reach the semifinals, but lost to Uruguay in a shootout after Gyan hit the crossbar on a late penalty kick that would have won the game.

There's been some turnover on the Black Stars' roster since they last faced the United States.

Only six starters from the game against the Americans in 2010 are on this year's squad, which includes 16 World Cup newcomers.

Ghana is the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 25 years, 6 months.

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