Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah says he expected Egypt to be up for Tuesday's World Cup qualifying play-off in Cairo just as it panned out.

Despite losing 2-1 to the Pharaohs, the Black Stars still made their way to the World Cup finals on the back of a 7-3 aggregate victory following a strong 6-1 first-leg win.

Appiah, who would be guiding Ghana to a third-consecutive appearance at the finals in Brazil at Egypt's expense says his side achieved their target.

"It was a difficult match to play for Ghana. A late arrival at the stadium limited our warm up and as a result we were rather slow out of the blocks," Appiah said on Wednesday.

“No matter how psyched up you may want to be, taking a commanding lead like 6-1 into a second match [as] was the case [...] plays on your mind.

"We knew the Egyptians would be in a hurry [so] we opted to slow down play and I [think] we did that well," said Appiah. "We were up against a good Egyptian team [but] we did what was required and [...] are all pleased to qualify for Brazil 2014.”