Former Ghana youth star Bashiru Gambo has called on Black Starlets coach Samuel Fabin to be cautious of the danger India will pose to his side's chances of qualifying to the next stage of the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The Black Starlets could be facing an early exit from the ongoing U-17 World Cup should they taste heavy defeat against host country India and the other group game between USA and Colombia ends in a win for the latter.
And Gambo, who played an instrumental role in Ghana's victory at the same level in 1995 where they defeated Brazil 3-2 in the final, has advised coach Fabin to earnestly talk to his charges before the clash against India, which have labeled as "make or break."
"We have to be very careful against India. I don't know if coach Fabin talks to them as he should because we started the competition brightly by beating Colombia but we were lame in the USA defeat. The boys need to be talked to before today's game," the 39-year-old former Borussia Dortmund midfielder told Happy FM.
"Same goes to their captain [Eric] Ayiah, he needs to gather his teammates and ask them their purpose of playing in the tournament, what do Ghanaians expect from them at the end of the competition, and also let them understand that they shouldn't think about playing to earn contract abroad. I believe if coach Fabin or Ayiah ask them these questions, the boys will rethink about the position they find themselves in and give off their best against India and in the subsequent games. The talent is there but they're not playing as a team and that cost us in the last game against USA."
"India is not a country that Ghana should be afraid of in terms of playing football. On paper, the score line should 5-0 or 6-0 in favour of Ghana but football has evolved and there are no minnows, hence we should not underrate them. In their first match against USA, they were poor but they shook the footballing world with their performance in the loss against Colombia so we should be very cautious and take it serious."
The crunch encounter will come off on Thursday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, at 2:30GMT.
@Reuben Obodai17