"It is not going to be easy because the expectation is high back home," Gyan said after the draw for the first round of qualifiers, which he helped with, last week.
"We will try our possible best to make sure we also qualify."
The former Sunderland man isn't the only one who doesn't sound certain enough about the Black Stars' chances of reaching the next Mundial; seek the views of a random sample of his countrymen, and you'd arrive at a similar conclusion.
It's not because Group I is particularly tough. None of Ghana's five opponents has ever been at a World Cup, after all, nor has any ever won the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Four of them, in fact, are currently ranked firmly outside Fifa's best 100 national teams.
Don't, though, expect Ghana to have it all their way. The journey will be hard, the road muddy and rough, even if conventional wisdom suggests the Stars would get to their destination in the end.
There's a reason Ghana went into this draw from Pot 2. They're, at present, not reckoned among Africa's top ten teams, and that has a lot to do with an unpalatable run of results, with only six victories achieved in their last 19 games across all competitions (friendlies included).
The team has been through the hands of three trainers in that period, the latest being former Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton. The 64-year-old took charge in March this year amid much fanfare and hope that he might be the one to significantly transform the fortunes of this slumbering African giant.
But while Hughton has certainly made the Stars hard to beat — three games in, they're undefeated — they've been very blunt going forward, scoring only twice thus far into the Irishman's tenure; and that's not even considering other parts of the team that still require fine-tuning.
Hardly inspiring, too, is Ghana's recent record against some of the teams in its World Cup qualifying group (the exception being Chad, whom they have never faced).
Three of those teams — Comoros, Madagascar, and Central African Republic — have denied Ghana victory three times out of a combined four games since the start of 2022; in that time, the Stars have been kicked out of the last Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in the first round, while they stand the risk of missing out altogether on the next edition.
Mali, the other team not mentioned yet in this write-up, are the most formidable of Ghana's group challengers, the one the Stars are most accustomed to encountering. The Eagles have won three of the West African rivals' last six meetings, the latest of which was a 3-0 smashing inflicted in an October 2020 friendly.
Factoring in all that, it's safe to say Hughton's charges won't be starting the qualification series — in November this year — from a position of great strength. And while that doesn't exactly diminish the odds in their favour, Ghana clearly need to apply themselves some more, stepping up a gear or two, to finish top of the group.
Failure to do so may require that Ghana take a more tortuous path to the upcoming showpiece in North America, via continental and intercontinental playoffs.
Nobody really wants that, though, do they?
By: Sammie Frimpong