Rivalry To Spur Ghana On - Dede Ayew

Andre Ayew is counting on the West African rivalry in Group B to spur the Black Stars on at the African Cup of Nations. The competition which begins Sunday in Angola as Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso all placed in Group B to be based in Cabinda. The age-long rivalry on the continent especially in the West African terrain has not be lost on Andre, son of Ghanaian legend, Abedi Ayew Pele. For the younger Ayew, 20, and who might have seen little of the passion that such meetings bring, he is aware of the past matches and says it would motivate the Black Stars. "Not just to say they are teams which have a lot of players who play outside but they are teams which are close to us," the midfielder said in reference to Ghana's group opponents. "It's like rivals. It�s like everybody wants to be the boss of West Africa and that is how it is going to play. "The four teams from West Africa are all in the same Group. I think it's good and it will motivate us from the beginning but we don't have to forget that it's going to be difficult." The difficulty of such encounters is very predictable but Andre Ayew, making his second successive Nations appearance believes that in coach Milovan Rajevac, Ghana possesses a great technical person to plot their qualification from the group. "Personally I have a lot of confidence in the coach. His tactical work and what the coaches make us do at training so I think anything is possible but every match must be treated as if it's the final," he said. Ghana are due to play Togo in a Group B tie on Monday before turning to the fixture against Ivory Coast four days later. The Black Stars will round up the group campaign against Burkina Faso.