Jerome Opoku says the Black Stars’ 1-0 win over Panama was the perfect start to Ghana’s FIFA World Cup campaign but insists the team will approach every match looking for three points. The defender, who made his World Cup debut on Wednesday, told ghanafa.org the victory has created a good vibe in the training rooms as preparations continue for England.
Here is what he told ghanafa.org
On significance of the win
I think the players, the staff, everyone’s happy with the result. I think the three points is the most important thing. And now we feel a good vibe in the training rooms and positive energy, which is what we needed to go into the next game. So, I think it was a perfect, perfect result for us.
On making his World Cup debut
It was a dream come true, you know, to play in front of the fans and my family was there. It’s something I dreamed of growing up. And I thought it was a solid performance, you know. I’m happy to keep a clean sheet with my defenders, the backline and the two goalkeepers. So, it was a team effort and we’ve done it. So, yeah, that’s it.
On the group
I think it’s a special group, you know. There’s a lot of different qualities and it all makes us one great team, you know. So, we’ve got experienced guys, people coming for their first World Cup, like me. Young players, senior players. So, yeah, man, it’s a healthy balance.
On the feeling looking ahead to the England game
So, we’re all happy, we’re all happy. Every game is another game, you know. So England, Panama, Croatia, we all have the same focus to each game, and we want to get three points, of course. So, yeah, we’re going to see how the training goes this week and prepare our best to take all three points for England, yeah. Obviously, we know they’ve got good players, they’ve got great qualities, but I think as a group we know our qualities too. So, this is another game for us, and we need to just give our full fight, like we did in Panama, you know, die for each other in the pitch and, you know, hopefully we get the three points.
On a good take off
I think it was a perfect, as I said, perfect three points and that just sets the tone for the games coming. I think when the goal went in, the emotions were high. You know, you saw the reactions from the fans, the bench and even myself. I knee-slided, I didn’t even score, so it was amazing, man, it was amazing. So now we just want to take this into the next game and build on it.
On approach
We won the first game against Panama and I’ve seen a lot of people saying now all we need is a draw, but for me the most important thing is you go into every game looking for the three points and then whatever comes, comes. But you can’t approach a game looking for a draw, you know, you need to go in there with full confidence and that’s the most important thing. And then whatever happens, as long as we know we gave everything on the pitch for the badge, for the country, then that’s all we can do.
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