Ghana v Mauritius: Finalists begin quest for 2017 redemption

Mauritius will look to begin life after Didier Six, when they travel to Accra for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Ghana and Mauritius both head into their Group H qualifier on the back of a much-needed win last time out.

Mauritius had not won in nine prior to their 1-0 win over Seychelles at the COSAFA Cup in May, however the victory did not save Six – who lasted just five months in the position.

Six was absent for the Seychelles win after being sanctioned for poor behaviour at the COSAFA Cup, and departed the role in bizarre circumstances – not returning for duties despite not officially resigning, which led to his sacking.

Akbar Patel, who previously held the senior reins, was in charge for the victory, and presumably will be in the technical area in Accra.

Mauritius arrived in Ghana on Thursday, and trained at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday.

Ghana, meanwhile, had a 1-0 friendly win over Togo to snap a five-match winless run.

The victory for Avram Grant’s men was their first since losing the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final on penalties to Ivory Coast, and they can begin their path towards going one better at Gabon 2017 with a big win over the island nation.

Midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu said they will be aiming for all three points.

“Normally, qualifiers can be tricky especially, because we are in a league format,” Badu told Cafonline.com.

“For us, we have decided not to depend on any ifs or buts. We want to take our destiny into our own hands and qualify as quickly as possible.

“We will rather qualify well in time than depend on calculations or arithmetic later on.

“This means we must start getting every point out of every match and off each team we approach and that starts with Mauritius.”

Ghana’s preparation for the fixture has been disturbed by the natural disaster in their homeland, which has been deadly.

Asamoah Gyan was among a bevy of Black Stars players to visit the scene of the gas station explosion – caused by the floods – which has left more than 200 people dead.