Cristiano Ronaldo is good but can’t run – John Paintsil

Ghana was paired in Group H alongside Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea following the draw in Doha.

The Black Stars’ opening group against Portugal will be played at Stadium 974 in Doha on November 24, 2022.

John Paintsil Pulse Ghana

They will then travel to the city of Al Rayyan to face South Korea four days later, before taking on Uruguay in the final group game.

Paintsil, who featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, believes Ghana must not focus on Ronaldo but treat every Portuguese player as a threat.

“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, as quoted by the Graphic Sports.

“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.”

Black Stars Pulse Ghana

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 [current Ghana 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.