Ghana face daunting task against buoyant South Africans

By Brian Homewood

ACCRA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Ghana must beat South Africa for the first time on Sunday if they are to progress any further in the African Nations' Cup tournament they are co-hosting. Nigeria, the other hosts, take on underdogs Senegal on Monday in Lagos with yet another internal row brewing, this time between coach Jo Bonfrere and striker Victor Ikpeba, scorer of two goals in their opening 4-2 win over Tunisia.

Ghana's second place finish in group A has landed them with a quarter-final tie in Kumasi against a South African side they have not beaten in any of their four previous meetings. The Black Stars' confidence is already at a low ebb after they finished the group stage with a 2-0 defeat by Ivory Coast, giving a performance described as "less than nothing" by their Italian coach Giuseppe Dossena.

Now they have to face a buoyant and unbeaten South African side who will Shaun Bartlett, the tournament's top scorer, keen to add to his tally of four goals. Should Ghana win against the team who finished runners-up in Burkina Faso two years ago, they would travel to Lagos for their semifinal to face the winners of the Nigeria-Senegal clash. Nigeria captain Sundey Oliseh, who missed Thursday's 2-0 win with a bout of malaria, is expected to return for that game but Ikpeba's presence is not so sure.

EARLY EXIT

He was dropped from this match by Dutchman Bonfrere after complaining about being substituted in the previous game, a 0-0 draw with Congo. Unfortunately for the Borussia Dortmund striker, the Super Eagles produced their best performance of the tournament in his absence as they condemned the Atlas Lions to an early exit. Nigeria had already been hit by a row over win bonuses. The quarter-finals begin on Sunday with the meeting between Cameroon's Indomitable Lions and an Algeria side led by Moussa Said.

He is playing his fifth Nations' Cup and is one of his country's two survivors from the team who won the tournament 10 years ago. Cameroon, who won group A, appeared happy with their opponents.

"We know how they play, I think Algeria will be easier for us than South African team," said Pius Ndiefi. "I know we have a good team and against Algeria I know we can pass to the next round. For us, we came here to get to the final" The winners will stay in Accra to take on either defending champions Egypt or Tunisia who meet in the northern Nigeria city of Kano where the Harmattan season has been in full swing. Previous group matches in the city have been played in a mist of dust, blown in from the Sahara desert by seasonal winds. Defending champions Egypt, who share with Ghana the aim of winning a record-breaking fifth title, were the only team to win all their group games.

Tunisia, quarter-finalists in Burkina Faso, edged out Morocco on goals scored.