Ghana fans celebrate after the international friendly match between England and Ghana. The Black Stars face Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations on February 8, 2012. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Ghana are favored to defeat Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals, but the Black Stars have been unconvincing lately, while Zambia's strikers are in top form.
Ghana remain co-favorites to win the Africa Cup of Nations and favorites to defeat Zambia on Wednesday evening, but they hardly look like an invincible side. The Black Stars did not look great in their group stage matches against Guinea and Botswana, and they needed extra time to get by Tunisia in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Zambia won their quarterfinal match comfortably against Sudan.
While Zambia certainly don't have the big names and depth that Ghana have, they appear to actually possess a bit more firepower. Asamoah Gyan has not been a star thus far in this tournament, while Christopher Katongo and Emmanuel Mayuka have both been impressive. Ghana central defender John Mensah is battling injury and is not expected to be fit for this match, leaving two of the three of Jonathan, Isaac Vorsah and John Boye to deal with Zambia's impressive strikers.
In Ghana's last match, manager Goran Stevanović moved Samuel Inkoom back to right back from right forward, introducing another midfielder and sitting John Pantsil. The Black Stars have performed well in the pass with Inkoom as a defender, and he could opt to do this again. Ghana's roster is filled with talented players who play multiple positions, and Stevanović likes to swap based on his goals for the game, so projecting a lineup is difficult.
Kickoff is at 11:00 a.m. ET, 5:00 p.m. local time from Bata, Equatorial Guinea.
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