Gideon Mensah encourages teammates ahead of must win AFCON qualifier

Black Stars defender Gideon Mensah has rallied his teammates, emphasising the importance of perseverance and determination in their quest to revive their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign.

The Black Stars are in desperate need of a turnaround, having gone four games without a victory, threatening their 2025 AFCON qualification prospects.

The Black Stars face a do-or-die clash against Angola on Friday night, with defeat or a draw condemning them to their first AFCON qualification miss since 2004.

In an interview with 3Sports, Mensah acknowledged the challenges facing the Black Stars but insisted that giving up is not an option.

“It’s a bit difficult as it stands now if we look on paper and if we look on the screens it’s a bit difficult. But that’s why we are players and that’s why we represent the country and that’s why the whole country trusted the football part of the country in our hands so we can’t give up and we can’t say now it’s done.” Mensah stressed.

Ghana currently sits at the bottom of Group F with two draws and two losses, leaving their hopes of extending their consecutive AFCON appearances to 11 hanging in the balance.

Despite the slim chance of qualifying, Mensah remains resolute, emphasizing that winning the next two games is non-negotiable.

“For me, there is no other option than to win the games. We can’t have any other excuses about why we couldn’t win our next two games. If there’s anything we can do, that’s it – we need to win those games. However we’re going to do it, we need to do it,” he asserted.

Ghana’s match against Angola will be played at the 11 de Novembro Stadium with kickoff at 7 pm local time

The post Gideon Mensah encourages teammates ahead of must win AFCON qualifier first appeared on 3News.

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