Ghana Black Stars coach James Akwasi Appiah has fired a warning shot at the rest of the world with a bold prediction that the Black stars can cause an upset at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals in Brazil. The West Africans will represent their continent alongside Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Algeria in June 2014.

In an exclusive post match interview with SuperSport, the soft spoken former Ghana national team captain defended the performance of his team against the Pharaohs of Egypt in the second leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Cairo saying that qualification was the ultimate goal and not necessarily the performance on the night.

''Losing 2-1 in Cairo but qualifying 7-3 on aggregate is a result I am proud of because it has not been easy at all and we must all really be proud of these fantastic players''

Appiah will be leading a squad brimming with confidence after a third consecutive qualification ticket following exploits in Germany where Ghana advanced to the second round and South Africa where the team was eliminated at the quarter finals on penalties.

''This time around, teams would be very wary of Ghana as a threat and it will be tough but I trust my boys and we will be ready for challenges come June 2014''

The former Kotoko captain also described as ''very unfortunate'' what turned out to be unfounded allegations that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and the Ghana Sports Ministry were in talks with an expatriate technical director to replace him as coach. '' I am only human and when I heard the stories I was hurt because the implication was that I had done nothing so far or could not do the job''

He insisted however that he gave the issue no further merit after words of encouragement from the GFA President, the Sports Minister and even the President of Ghana that he could count on their full support.

''Right now, what we have to do is to prepare well and make a mark at the World Cup Finals and I am confident that we can cause a sensation shake the world of football when the time comes''.