The call him \u2018Warrior\u2019, and Joseph Mensah knowns he will have to fight with all his might to get Ghana to the FIFA Futsal World Cup\u2122.<\/p>\n
The Black Stars have never shared court with the sport\u2019s titans. They haven\u2019t even been to the CAF Futsal AFCON since its inaugural instalment in 1996. Ghana are, nevertheless, only one hurdle away from heading to the forthcoming continental finals in April, and Mensah is confident they\u2019ll clear it and go on to reach Uzbekistan 2024.<\/p>\n
Standing in the way of a ticket to Morocco in April are C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, whom they will face home and away in early February.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t played against them yet, but Ivory Coast are a good team,\u201d Mensah told FIFA. \u201cI\u2019ve watched a few of their games and I realise they are good opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I believe this is our time. Futsal is very popular in Ghana. People are really into the game. The league in Ghana is a really good standard. I think futsal suits the style of Ghanian players. Futsal is part of the nation now.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow Ghana have an excellent team. We are very strong. Everyone is willing to help each other and give everything for the nation. I believe with our experience, hard work, skill and determination we will beat them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mensah is the principal reasons the Black Stars are favourites. A pivot with eye-catching technique and a wicked shot, he is attracting glances for European clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got into futsal when I was in high school,\u201d he explained. \u201cI fell in love with the fast pace and skilful nature of the game. You need ball control, ability, to be to able to think quickly and work as part of a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to get to the very top. I\u2019m very happy with the way I\u2019ve played over the last year, but I want to keep improving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that I will. I believe in myself. I know I train really hard. I\u2019m very focused on what I want to achieve. I fight with everything that I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mensah is also convinced another Ghanaian will join him at the top. \u201cPhilip Boye is a very, very good player,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s very talented and his composure is elite. I\u2019ve learned a lot from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mensah is not looking past C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, but he is confident that not only will Ghana grab one of Africa\u2019s three tickets to the global finals, but that they will go on to thrive in Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FIFA Futsal World Cup is a big dream,\u201d he said. \u201cI really enjoyed watching Falcao and Ricardinho playing in it. To play on the same stage would be incredible. I\u2019m doing everything I can individually and as part of the team to get to the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe Ghana could compete with anyone. I believe we could go very far in the World Cup. Ghana have huge potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family support me a lot, especially my dad. It would mean everything to me to know that he is watching me sing the Ghanaian national anthem, play in the FIFA Futsal World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The call him \u2018Warrior\u2019, and Joseph Mensah knowns he will have to fight with all his might to get Ghana to the FIFA Futsal World Cup\u2122. The Black Stars have never shared court with the sport\u2019s titans. They haven\u2019t even been to the CAF Futsal AFCON since its inaugural instalment in 1996. Ghana are, nevertheless, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":933917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-933916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=933916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/933917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=933916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=933916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=933916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}