2022 World Cup: Former Ghana Defender Cautions Black Stars Not to Play With ‘Anger’ Against Uruguay

• Johna Paintsil has warned the Black Stars not to harbour any hard feelings towards Uruguay when both sides cross paths at the 2022 World Cup
• Paintsil, who was part of the 2010 squad that lost to Uruguay on penalties, believes playing with anger goes a long way to affect the team negatively
• Ghana will begin its World Cup journey against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal before playing the Korea Republic and Uruguay in the final group game

Ex-Ghana defender John Paintsil has urged the Black Stars to throw away any form of anger when Ghana cross swords with Uruguay at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Ghana's Group H game against the South American nation has been dubbed a 'Revenge game' by most Ghanaians following the heart-aching loss to the two-time World champions in 2010.

The Black Stars were on the cusp of World Cup history when they played against Uruguay in the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup but for the act of 'bravery' on the part of Luis Suarez, who handled a goal-bound effort denied Ghana and Africa a semifinal berth.

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The resulting penalty was missed by Asamoah Gyan with Ghana unable to recover from there as the Uruguayans bypassed the Black Stars to reach the last four of the competition.

Since then, Luis Suarez has been tagged 'Public Enemy No.1' in Ghana hence the reason behind the revenge for most football lovers in the West African nation.

Despite the history between the two sides, John Paintsil - a member of the Ghana team that lost to Uruguay 12 years ago - wants the team to approach the game with a different mentality.

“When you look at the current squad apart from Andre Ayew [current Ghana captain] who was part of the 2010 squad, most of them are new and they don’t really know the rivalry between us and Uruguay." Paintsil told Graphic Sports as quoted by Pulse.

"So going forward, it will be advisable that they won’t feel that anger because if you approach a football game with anger it could go against you,” the former Fulham right-back added.

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Osman Bukari wants Black Stars to tread cautiously at the World Cup

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that France-based Ghana winger Osman Bukari says the Black Stars need to develop a cautious approach to navigate their way through a difficult World Cup group in Qatar later this year.

The four-time African champions in their fourth World Cup appearance have been drawn in Group H alongside European heavyweights Portugal, former champions Uruguay and South Korea.

Bukari, who plays for FC Nantes in France, reveals the team is focused on making it out of the group, but insists they have to be careful.