The Black Stars of Ghana have no option but to shine brightly against Mali in the crucial second round match in the on-going AFCON 12.

Rated together with Ivory Coast as the pre-tournament favourites, the Stars should take inspiration from Ivory Coast’s advancement to the quarter finals following their 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso  and also live up to expectation.

The Ghana- Mali is an interesting pairing. It is so far the only fixture involving two winners in the first round. Ghana beat Botswana 1-0 and Mali also beat Guinea by the same margin.

It’s really a battle of equals but the Stars have a slight edge in terms of attacking machinery.

The preceding encounter between two first round losers, Botswana and Guinea, has its peculiar attraction and it should also be full of thrills. So far it has been an incident free tournament and the organizers can pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Jan 22nd,2000; Ghana Black Stars draw 1-1 with Cameroun in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations in Accra. Cameroun led 1-0 at half time and Kwame Ayew pulled even for Ghana in the 56th minute.