Samuel Inkoom praises Black Stars

Black Stars defender Samuel Inkoom has showered praises on his colleagues for overcoming acts of intimidation to advance to the grand finale of the ongoing Orange African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.
Group C winners Ghana clash with group D champions Elephants of Cote d' Ivoire in Bata in a grudge match on Sunday, a repeat of their Senegal '92 encounter which the Ivorians won by a marathon 11-10 penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw.
" I have been following the sacrifice, patriotism and hardwork of my colleagues. No matter the frustrations, I have no doubt in my mind that they will lift the trophy and make Ghana proud",stated the ex- DC United defender in an interview Friday.
The Black Stars beat the host nation 3-0 in a semi-finals clash Thursday in Malabo in a game characterized by acts of hooliganism by irate missile-throwing home fans disappointed by the humiliation. The match was stopped for over thirty minutes during the second half which witnessed Ghanaian fans come under intense attack as water bottles, rocks and other objects were thrown at them by irate fans.. Touching on the violence, Inkoom said that "violence has no place in soccer. If the violence was meant to frustrate Ghana, it backfired because my colleagues are fired and focused and won't be intimidated by acts of hooliganism ".
On the chances of Ghana against the Ivorians who beat Congo DR 3-1 in the other semi-finals clash Wednedsay, Inkoom said his colleagues are determined to die for the country and make history. .
'Their hardwork has paid off. After the initial setback, a 2-1 defeat to Senegal in the opening group match, one realizes that the team now is transformed.. The confidence, commitiment and cohesion with which they have approached subsequent matches have improved and every match sees an improvement over the previous game. The evidence is the goalscoring and as you can see the margin has been growing" Ghana beat Algeria1-0 and South Africa 2-1 in the other group matches at the quarter finals stage beat Guinea 3-0 and confirmed the free scoring prowess last Friday at the expense of the host nation. This shows that they are ready to overcome any opposition and I have no doubt in my mind that they'll beat the Ivorians ", he stated.
Inkoom appealed to the entire nation to rally behind the the Black Stars to bring honors to the country that won the African Nations Cup the last time 33 years ago in 1982 in Libya. .