Debutant hero Akaminko fired up for Zambia

*Debutant hero Akaminko fired up for Zambia

*He may have just made his full senior debut for the national team, but defender Jerry Akaminko has already shifted focus to the next game against African champions Zambia this weekend.

A junior international in the past, Akaminko’s maiden game for the Black Stars last Friday was a dream one as he not only helped marshal the defence so well to help the team to a resounding 7-0 win, Akaminko also capped the game with a goal.

His brave header off a rebound in injury time was goal number seven as the Stars ran amok over the hapless Lesotho. But Akaminko wants the game against Lesotho forgotten, he says the focus is on Zambia now.

“We are ready. We’ve been ready all along even though we are not in Zambia yet and we had this game against Lesotho. We’ve been thinking more of the Zambia game. Seriously, we are delighted to win and we’ll take the confidence to Zambia to win,” Akaminko said on live TV moments after the 7-0 win last Friday in Kumasi.

The Manisaspor defender and his international teammates have since flown out to South Africa where they are training ahead of Saturday’s crunch tie in Zambia. Akaminko has shrugged aside any fears about his apparent lack of experience at this level, insisting that he has been ready for national team action for years.

“I’ve been watching the Black Stars all these years so I was ready to cope. I was more ready psychologically and physically too to put in a good performance. It wasn’t so perfect but I thank God for the performance, And I'm also confident that there is more room for me to improve,” Akaminko said.

*Credit: Prince Dornu-Leiku *