2022 World Cup: They don’t need to focus on Ronaldo- Ex-Ghana defender John Paintsil advises ahead of Portugal clash

Former Ghana international John Paintsil has advised the Black Stars not to focus too much on Cristiano Ronaldo when they face Portugal at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Ghana have been paired in Group H alongside Portugal, Uruguay and Korea Republic in the 2022 World Cup.

The Black Stars start their campaign at the tournament against the 2016 European champions at Stadium 974 in Doha on November 24, 2022

According to the former Fulham defender, the Black Stars must strategize on how to beat Portugal and not focus on stopping Ronaldo in the game.

“They don’t need to focus on Ronaldo; they need to focus on their game plan because as a player going into a game you don’t look at an individual,” he said.

“Ronaldo is still good but he can’t run but when he receives the ball before you get to him, he can use it so it’s only close marking.”

Paintsil also warned Otto Addo’s side against targeting revenge when they come up against Luis Suarez and Uruguay.

“When you look at the current squad apart from Andre Ayew (Ghana’s Current Captain) who was part of the 2010 squad, most of them are new and they don’t really know the rivalry between us and Uruguay.

So going forward, it will be advisable that they won’t feel that anger because if you approach a football game with anger it could go against you,” the former Fulham right-back added.