Ghana coach Queiroz says playing England ‘easiest’ World Cup game

n n

Carlos Queiroz

n

Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said facing a team of England’s calibre at the World Cup is the “easiest type of game” to approach, as both sides bid for a place in the last 32.

n

The 73-year-old Portuguese is at his fifth World Cup — and his first with Ghana — having taken charge in April in what is his ninth role as a national team manager.

n

The former Real Madrid boss and Manchester United assistant led Iran at the past three World Cups, suffering a 6-2 hammering by England in the group stage of the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

n

“In football, four years is like a century, so I don’t even remember where that was,” said Queiroz.

n

“I was not defeated. In football, we never lose. We win or we learn. We learned a couple of lessons that day.”

n

After opening their campaign in North America with a 1-0 win over Panama, Queiroz can guide Ghana into the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time since 2010 with victory over England in Boston on Tuesday.

n

“It’s another game. All games are different, it’s a different team on the pitch and different environment,” he said.

n

“The reputations and prestige of results in the past are significant when they are written in the press, but they cannot win games. Memories don’t win games, so tomorrow will be another story.”

n

England made a strong start in Group L with an eye-catching 4-2 win over Croatia, although they showed signs of vulnerability in defence.

n

They are unbeaten in eight previous matches against African opposition at the World Cup but will be facing Ghana in a competitive fixture for the first time.

n

“This is the easiest type of match, because when you’re about to play against England, France or Germany, you don’t need to say anything to the players. They’re fully motivated,” said Queiroz.

n

“Everybody is fully switched on and everybody wants to perform well.

n

“What we have to do in this type of game is to try and moderate the enthusiasm, but mainly we need to do work together. This is the most important thing tomorrow. Whatever happens, we need to stick together and fight together over 90 full minutes.”

n

“We know they have the three lions on their shirt, but we come from Ghana and have 33 million lions… to fight for this game,” he added.

n

Queiroz is expected to recall Thomas Partey in midfield after he was denied a visa by Canadian authorities for the opening game in Toronto.

n

The Villarreal player is facing trial on rape charges in Britain but denies the allegations.

n

Queiroz also said a late decision would be made on goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who was forced off through injury in the win over Panama.

n

AFP

n n