Ghana Promises to Roast Cranes -Ugandan Paper

Ghana's national football team, The Black Stars foreign-based players are confident of roasting Uganda Cranes when they clash in an African Nations Cup qualifier on Sunday 22 June in Kumasi, Ghana.

Professional players Ishmael Addo, John Paintsil, Stephen Appiah, Sammy Osei -Kuffour, Razak Ibrahim, Derek Boeteng and Baffour Gyan are already in the country. On Tuesday they met the team's Germany coach Burkhard Ziese ahead of residential training. 28 players were called to the camp.

In a joint statement, the players said: "This is our motherland and there is no reason why we should not die for her. We have to win both our remaining matches, first with a revenge against the Cranes." The Cranes match will also be Bayern Munich star Sammy Kuffour's first since last year's Nations Cup when he was sent home for allegedly indispline.

The Blacks Stars were set to tour World Cup joint hosts South Korea and Japan this week but instead opted to go into residential training. Rwanda's 1-0 win over Cranes last weekend was received with jubilation in Ghana as it improved their chances of playing in the finals for a record 15th time. Only Egypt, with 18 appearances, has a better record. The Black Stars first choice goal keeper Sammy Adjei, who features for champions Hearts of Oak will miss the Cranes match with a shoulder injury.