Super Eagles former Captain, William Troost-Ekong,believes Ghana has the quality to hold their own against England when they meet in a Group L clash in Boston on Tuesday.
Ghana defeated Panama by a lone goal on Thursday, while England overcame the higher rated Croatia 4-2 in their opening game.
Tuesday’s game will not only decide the leader of the group with one game to end the first round, it will also act as a confidence booster for the winner in a championship already littered with unexpected results.
Speaking during an online interactive session organized by Multichoice, Ekong said: “I would love Ghana to go and do well. I think the beauty of the World Cup, and I think all the teams, even when we’ve been at the World Cup before – we want to see the other African teams do well, I think it’s very important for the continent.
“Besides the rivalry, where we play against each other, often there’s also a lot of love for each other, because we know the players well, and maybe from my perspective now, having retired from the national team, it’s easier to say that.”
The former Watford star said that the introduction of Thomas Partey, who was not involved in the Panama game due to visa issues, would make the Black Stars more solid all round, adding that if Ghana got their acts right, they could take advantage of England’s problems at the back to record a good result.
He said: “I think picking up the three points against Panama will give them a chance to play confidently against England. I think against England, when I’ve seen them play, there’s definitely opportunities to take advantage.
“So if I was predicting that game, I’m probably going to say a draw because I could see both teams score.”
Apart from Ghana, Ekong also backed South Africa to get their acts right after one loss and a draw in their first two games at the championship.
Many Africans have been against the Bafana Bafana at the World Cup following the recent xenophobic attacks against other blacks by the South Africans.
But Ekong is looking at events on the pitch, saying that the Bafana Bafana have a good team and deserve to be in North America.
He admitted that South Africa deserved their ticket ahead of Nigeria, which finished second behind the Bafana Bafana during the qualifying series.
In their opening game, South Africa were beaten 2-0 by hosts Mexico in their opening game before a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic in Atlanta.
“I think I probably agree in a sense that the opening game wasn’t where everyone expected them to be.
Normally they have a very clear playing style, and it was good to see that in the second game against Czechia.
“Bafana were consistent in the qualifiers, and we were playing catch-up from the first game, and we dropped a lot of points, so at the end they qualified and we didn’t. So, they deserve to be at the World Cup,” he said.
He admitted that qualification for the second round is still possible, adding, however, that “it will not be easy for them to beat Korea.”
South Africa will face South Korea in their decisive game against South Korea on Thursday.