Black Stars players need to come together as a unit to secure WC qualification – John Paintsil

Former Ghana defender, John Paintsil has emphasised that it is necessary for all Black Stars players especially the big names to come together to ensure qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup is secured.

The national team of the West African country will in this international break play against Ethiopia and South Africa in the final two matches of Group G of the African qualifiers.

Ahead of the must-win games, John Paintsil says the key players in the team will be key for the side.

“Partey, Kamaldeen [Sulemana], [Mohammed] Kudus and Andre [Ayew] are very crucial to our chances of qualifying for the World Cup. But Milo [coach Milovan Rajevac] will never put pressure on his players.

“He will tell his players ‘go and do the job and I will take the responsibility’. So if a coach says this to you as a player, what else do you want? He has his ways of calming and motivating his players to do well on the field,” the former Black Stars full-back told Goal.

Paintsil added, “So, with these mentioned players, they’re experienced enough, they love and enjoy the game.

“What they now need to do is to come together as a team, lock themselves on the pitch, communicate well, and always take the game to the opponent. That will help in these two games coming up.”

Unfortunately, Ghana will be without Thomas Partey for the Ethiopia game. The midfielder is injured and hence could not honour the invite to the national team.