Thursday February 5, 2015, Estadio de Malabo @ 10.00pm (Ugandan Time)
The battle for a slot in the finals of the 2015 Africa Nations Cup resumes on Thursday evening when hosts Equatorial Guinea face off with four time winners Ghana at Estadio de Malabo.
The hosts controversially edged Tunisia in the quarter finals with a 2-1 victory thanks to Javier Balboa double including a controversial penalty converted in the dying minutes of normal time after Tunisia had taken the lead through Ahmed Akaichi.
Ghana coach Avram Grant has hinted at refereeing heading into the game but says his only control is on his team’s performance.
“If the referee will do two, three (mistakes), I cannot control (it). I can control only our performance,” said the former Chelsea manager.
“I think the referees until now – except (for) one or two games – have been good.
“And I am sure everyone will be watching this and everybody who needs to take care of this will do their job.”
Grant and Black Stars may do without inspirational skipper Asamoah Gyan who suffered a hip injury in the convincing 3-0 win over Guinea in the quarter finals with Crystal Palace striker Kwesi Appiah likely to take over the starting role as the central striker.
Besides, Ghana has goal scoring options in Andrew Ayew, Christian Atsu and Mubarak Wakaso among others.
For the hosts, Balboa and Emilio Nsue will once again be the players tasked to guide the small nation to their first ever finals.
The winner will meet Ivory Coast who dispatched DR Congo 3-1 in the first semi-final on Wednesday.