World Cup: Why Ghana vs Uruguay is not about revenge - Paintsil

Ghana must not focus their attention on the game against Uruguay alone if they aim to qualify for the knockout round of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, according to Black Stars legend John Paintsil.

In the draw conducted recently, the West Africans were zoned in Group H alongside the South Americans, Portugal and South Korea.

To many, the fixture against Uruguay is a good opportunity for the four-time African champions to avenge their quarter-final defeat to the Sky Blue at the 2010 World Cup.

There, Asamoah Gyan missed from the penalty spot after Luis Suarez prevented an obvious goalscoring opportunity with his hand. With the score tied at 1-1 after extra-time, Milovan Rajevac’s men crashed out 4-2 on penalties.

Nevertheless, the ex-Fulham and West Ham United defender revealed Otto Addo’s team must not afford to focus on the Uruguayans only.

"The game that is going to be mouth-watering and that people will be looking forward to is Uruguay-Ghana, because of the incident that happened in 2010 in South Africa," Paintsil told BBC Sport Africa.

"As football people, we don't think about revenge - but we always thought about how we can go forward.

"At the end of the day, it is not only Uruguay that we will play in the group. If you beat Uruguay but don't beat the rest, it will be a problem."

Accessing Ghana’s chances to qualify for the Round of 16 judging by the quality of teams they have been zoned against, the 40-year-old said his country has been put in the ‘group of death’, however, he fancies their prospects of qualifying.

"I would call it a group of death," he continued.

 "Seeing Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea... all strong sides. We are going to take one [game] at a time and take it as it comes.

 "We are not just going to say 'because we are in a group with Uruguay, we will put all our strength on them'.

“We need to put all our strength on all the teams that we are going to play so we can come out of the group successfully.

"I believe our current squad is a very balanced one, with youth and experience.

"The two matches they played against Nigeria gave all of us hope that they can go further. We trust that they will do it."

Ghana begin their quest for glory against Portugal on November 24 at Stadium 974 in Doha.