The Black Stars are back in action on Sunday as they kick off their African Cup qualifiers against Mauritius.

This is the first competitive fixture for the team after the disappointing loss in the final of the previous tournament barely six months ago.

And to challenge us is the Mauritius national team, a true minnow on the continent but not a guaranteed win for Ghana. If Ghana has shown anything it is that we often fail to raise our game unless the stakes are appropriately high enough.

And they aren’t, not in the opening fixture anyway. There are five more games after this one against reasonably inferior opposition and the fear is that complacency would lead to a stale performance tomorrow.

Against Burkina Faso in 2006, against Zambia in the last world cup qualifiers, against Sudan- the Black Stars have shown a proclivity for not being good starters. That is what coach Grant must fight against tomorrow.

Without Kwadwo Asamoah, Dede Ayew, Michael Essien, and Sulley Muntari; it is going to be a vastly different team to the one that first led Ghana’s explosion on the world stage. Luckily, the talent pool for this team seems bottomless these days.

Bernard Mensah is the new kid on the block, Jeffrey Schlupp, Baba Rahman, and Jordan Ayew are all young, very talented up and coming stars. Skipper Asamoah Gyan would add the experience they need.

Ghana takes on Mauritius in Accra at 1500 GMT on Sunday June 14. Mozambique and Rwanda contest the other group game.