We have 33 million lions to fight – Carlos Queiroz rallies team for England showdown

Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz has said that Tuesday’s World Cup clash with England will not dwell on past results, but on national identity, discipline, and unity as tension builds ahead of the crucial Group L showdown at Boston Stadium.

With both Ghana and England locked on three points, Queiroz believes the epic clash will be more tactical than legacy-based, urging his side to remain hinged on their own identity, discipline, and unity.

“This is very simple for me,” Queiroz explained during Monday’s pre-match press conference. “We play the competition by points at the moment. It is not the competition where it is everything for the winner, nothing for the loser. We have finished the first part of the game. We are fine, we are ahead. Now we are going to play the second part, and we still have the third part.”

The veteran coach emphasized that his focus remains on securing the points necessary to advance to the knockout stages.“What is important at the end of the three parts of a game is to have the points to qualify the team for the second round. So, we have to study the opponents that are ahead of us,” he added.

Queiroz acknowledges the challenge posed by Gareth Southgate’s side, particularly their technical prowess and the high intensity they exhibit in the Premier League.“England has its strengths, its characteristics. We have ours,” Queiroz noted.

“The most important thing is that we are not going to lose our identity because we want to add points to get to the qualification. We know what the characteristics of the England team are: good players with experience of the Premiership—that is very important—very competitive, high intensity.”

“We also know how to control these situations, and we will try to do it by putting all our strength on the field,” he said.

“Knowing that it is a team that comes with three lions here on the shirt—but we come from Ghana, and we have 33 million lions to fight. That’s what we’re going to do.”

The winner of Tuesday’s match at Boston Stadium takes control of Group L. Kickoff is 4:00 PM ET.