Ghana and Egypt unite in readiness for crunch tie at Africa Cup of Natons

Ghana boss Chris Hughton and his Egypt counterpart Rui Vitoria on Wednesday both declared their teams pumped and primed for Thursday night's Group B clash in Abidjan in which a defeat could shatter hopes of progress to the latter stages at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

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Mohamed Salah's stoppage-time penalty salvaged a point for Egypt against Mozambique in their opening game at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. AP - Themba Hadebe

Egypt needed Mo Salah to convert a second-half stoppage-time penalty to draw level with Mozamabique in their Group B opener at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny last Sunday. Ghana went down 2-1 to Cape Verde.

"We know what we have to do to get a good result against Ghana," said Vitoria.

"We know that it will be a difficult game against a good opponent but we are prepared."

On paper, Egypt, at 33, are ranked 28 places higher than Ghana. But Vitoria's men boasted a 78-place gap between themselves and Mozambique.

"I wasn't at all surprised by their performance," said Vitoria of Mozambique. "I was one of the few people saying that they were a good team. But nobody was taking me seriously.

"We have to clear away what we did against them because we cannot recover the points," added the 53-year-old Portuguese. "And now we have to go and get the points."

Hughton was equally bullish. "We are conscious of how big the game is and we know the quality of the opponent," said the 65-year-old. "We need to play at a high level to get the result that we want."

Stakes

A second straight defeat would leave Ghana staring at the prospect of  consecutive first round eliminations - a stark contrast to their record of reaching the final in 2010 and 2015 as well surges to the semis in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2017.

"We will put on a better performance than we did against Cape Verde," insisted veteran forward Jordan Ayew.

"Obviously it's going to be a tough game but the boys are ready. It is a big day for us as players and it is a big day for Ghana."

Hughton's side could be boosted by the return of star midfielder Mohammed Kudus.

"He joined the camp later than anybody else because of an injury sustained in his last game for West Ham," Hughton said.

 "We will continue to assess him. He has trained the last few days but we will make a decision just before the game."

Cape Verde, who lead the pool, take on Mozambique on Friday afternoon in Abidjan. Victory for either side will leave them well placed to advance to the knockout stages.