Kwesi Appiah Speaks On Malawi Qualifier And Team Selection

Kwesi Appiah says Ghana will not underestimate the threat of their opponents in the final round of qualifying for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations next month. The Black Stars host the first leg against Malawi on 8 September at the Accra Sports Stadium before facing the Flames away on the weekend of 12-14 October in their bid to reach South Africa 2013. Appiah, who is about to embark on his first qualifying campaign as Ghana coach in the African Nations Cup campaign, believes his team will be up against a tricky opponent. Speaking ahead of his team announcement, the Black Stars coach explained that, Malawi, 58 places behind Ghana on the Fifa ranking table will be motivated for tie with the winner over both legs qualifying for the finals. "The important thing is not to underestimate any opponent," Appiah said. "A look at the ranking table could be deceptive as the form of an opponent is only shown when in action. The public might regard them as an easy to beat opponent, but we all know that that�s not the case. "This is football and it's full of uncertainties. Both teams have 180 minutes to decide their fate. We will have to be clinical in the first leg." "Playing at home first means we will have our fans behind us and I expect them to push us on. We need to take one match at a time and try to get a good result before turning to the second leg." Appiah also spoke about his team selection and says though presented with a selection headache, it's one that he welcomes and bodes well for the group. "At this level, you always need to have lots of options. I have seen many players but everyone cannot be put on the list. "It's good for me have so many good players pushing for places. It keeps the competition high and it can only be good for Ghana. "The best at every time will be put forward to represent the nation. Our target is to qualify and we need our best players on the field to work towards that," the Ghana coach said. Thirty countries have been split into 15 home-and-away ties with the winners joining hosts, South Africa, who are automatic qualifiers for the Nations Cup. Next year's finals will mark the last time that the Nations Cup will be held in even-number years since Ethiopia staged the 1968 finals. The competition switches to uneven-number years from 2013 to avoid every second tournament being staged in the same year as a World Cup.