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Soccer News of Sunday, 29 March 2009

Source: GFA

Home crowd vital to Stars victory

Milovan Rajevac believes the Black Stars need the small details to fill the big puzzle as they attempt to get their World Cup campaign off to a flyer when Ghana plays Benin on Sunday.

The Black Stars will be playing at home to the Squirrels at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, a venue noted for its passionate and unique support for the home side.

The Baba Yara Stadium, a multi-use facility has a capacity of 40,470 seats and it is expected to be full before the 17:00 GMT (5pm local time) kick off time as Ghana gets the joint 2010 African Nations Cup and World Cup underway.

Rajevac expects his team to play well but is also confident that the Kumasi crowd will play a key factor in urging on his side to victory.

“Kumasi is a big place to play at. I love the atmosphere there. The fans also fill the stadium and support their team.

“We need the help of all and the fans can be our 12th man to help us win. We have to win the three points.

“We don’t have the three points before, we can only have it after we’ve played well and taken our chances. But we have to play till the end,” the Black Stars coach told www.ghanafa.org.

Essien boost

The match venue might just be one of the factors Rajevac would be looking out for but the availability of Michael Essien seems a big boost for the Black Stars coach who agonisingly had to see the midfielder go off after just 20 minutes into his first game in charge of Ghana.

Ghana went on to lose that particular game against Libya in Tripoli but this time around, the Serbian is eager to make the best out of the player’s presence.

“We are lucky to have Essien back. We can count on him. He is one of the best in the world and his position in the team is very important for Ghana.

“It’s always a difference when you have him and don’t have him. Players trust him and have confidence when he is there,” Milovan Rajevac said.

The Black Stars coach has been impressed with his team’s confidence level and says he would be demanding from them the same measure of commitment shown during the final game of the second round qualifiers against Lesotho back in October 2008.

“We have had a week to prepare just like the game against Lesotho in Sekondi.

“Lesotho is not strong like Benin. But that was a motivation for winning and the players understand that.

“I am going to ask for the same in this game and the next match. I hope we do same on Sunday in Kumasi.“