The Black Stars enviable feat of being the first African nation alongside hosts South Africa to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 reaffirms Ghana’s football supremacy on the African continent. Also, it goes on to prove that the Black Stars maiden appearance at the Mundial in Germany three years ago was no coincidence.
In what seemed daunting to the Stars till November, 2005 in Cape Verde, this consecutive World Cup appearance didn’t come without the usual hullabaloos and skepticism. Characteristic of the Ghanaian media, much noise was made of how unimpressive the team looked going into the qualifiers and also considering the fact that Ghana was paired alongside a rejuvenated Mali under the tutelage of Nigerian Stephen Keshi, Sudan and bogey side Benin.
Serbian tactician Milovan Rajevac’s appointment in August 2008 to steer the affairs of the Black Stars also fuelled the criticism on the team. Virtually a novice on the African terrain and nothing concrete to write about in his resume, Coach Rajevac was received in Ghana with much skepticism than confidence.
Ghana’s lackluster opening day qualifiers win against Benin in Kumasi dent the World Cup dream from the onset. However, the return of some of the key players from injury and the incredible performances and enthusiasm displayed by some of the young lads like Kwadwo Asamoah and Samuel Inkoom in the absence of their senior colleagues rekindled the dream and led to impressive wins against Mali and Sudan in their own backyards.
With other perennial super powers on the African continent—Nigeria, Cameroun and Egypt—currently struggling to make it to the first World Cup to be staged in Africa, it won’t be wrong for one to say Ghana’s early qualification is a blessing in disguise. The two remaining matches in the qualifiers will offer Coach Milo, as he is affectionately called in Ghana, the luxury to fill all the pores in the team and invite new players to justify themselves in the team as well.
The Black Stars lack of potency in front of goal is far from over. Despite being one of the top five teams which created the most scoring chances at the last FIFA World Cup, they scored a meager four goals at the tournament and couldn’t make it past the second round. The apparent naivety of the Stars strike force was most evident in their second round tie against Brazil where many pundits thought they could and should have won.
Asamoah Gyan’s inconsistency in front of goal, Junior Agogo’s rustiness and the injury prone Matthew Amoah needs rejuvenation if the Stars are to make any better mark in South Africa. Another problem with the Black Stars that need serious shore up is the lateral defence. John Paintsil has come under a barrage of criticism over the years for non-performance but he has managed to silence his critics recently with good performances for both club and country.
Picture this scenario: the midfield tandem between Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari doesn’t gel on match day, John Mensah gets injured at the back or the ever reliable Richard Kingson sustains an injury? The repercussions of such a scenario far outweigh the positives because the team has been built around a few players. This is a serious cause of concern for the handlers of the team as an unexpected injury or punishment for any of the senior players will spell doom for the Black Stars.
For the Black Stars to go past the second round in South African and etch its name in the history books, they shouldn’t rest on their laurels on being one of the first ten (10) countries to qualify for the thirty-two (32) nation showpiece in ‘Mandela’ land next year. Rather, the remainder of the qualifiers should be used to fine tune the current squad and find worthy backups.
In what seemed daunting to the Stars till November, 2005 in Cape Verde, this consecutive World Cup appearance didn’t come without the usual hullabaloos and skepticism. Characteristic of the Ghanaian media, much noise was made of how unimpressive the team looked going into the qualifiers and also considering the fact that Ghana was paired alongside a rejuvenated Mali under the tutelage of Nigerian Stephen Keshi, Sudan and bogey side Benin.
Serbian tactician Milovan Rajevac’s appointment in August 2008 to steer the affairs of the Black Stars also fuelled the criticism on the team. Virtually a novice on the African terrain and nothing concrete to write about in his resume, Coach Rajevac was received in Ghana with much skepticism than confidence.
Ghana’s lackluster opening day qualifiers win against Benin in Kumasi dent the World Cup dream from the onset. However, the return of some of the key players from injury and the incredible performances and enthusiasm displayed by some of the young lads like Kwadwo Asamoah and Samuel Inkoom in the absence of their senior colleagues rekindled the dream and led to impressive wins against Mali and Sudan in their own backyards.
With other perennial super powers on the African continent—Nigeria, Cameroun and Egypt—currently struggling to make it to the first World Cup to be staged in Africa, it won’t be wrong for one to say Ghana’s early qualification is a blessing in disguise. The two remaining matches in the qualifiers will offer Coach Milo, as he is affectionately called in Ghana, the luxury to fill all the pores in the team and invite new players to justify themselves in the team as well.
The Black Stars lack of potency in front of goal is far from over. Despite being one of the top five teams which created the most scoring chances at the last FIFA World Cup, they scored a meager four goals at the tournament and couldn’t make it past the second round. The apparent naivety of the Stars strike force was most evident in their second round tie against Brazil where many pundits thought they could and should have won.
Asamoah Gyan’s inconsistency in front of goal, Junior Agogo’s rustiness and the injury prone Matthew Amoah needs rejuvenation if the Stars are to make any better mark in South Africa. Another problem with the Black Stars that need serious shore up is the lateral defence. John Paintsil has come under a barrage of criticism over the years for non-performance but he has managed to silence his critics recently with good performances for both club and country.
Picture this scenario: the midfield tandem between Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari doesn’t gel on match day, John Mensah gets injured at the back or the ever reliable Richard Kingson sustains an injury? The repercussions of such a scenario far outweigh the positives because the team has been built around a few players. This is a serious cause of concern for the handlers of the team as an unexpected injury or punishment for any of the senior players will spell doom for the Black Stars.
For the Black Stars to go past the second round in South African and etch its name in the history books, they shouldn’t rest on their laurels on being one of the first ten (10) countries to qualify for the thirty-two (32) nation showpiece in ‘Mandela’ land next year. Rather, the remainder of the qualifiers should be used to fine tune the current squad and find worthy backups.
No comments:
Post a Comment