Immediately after the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Gabon, I began pondering over the question: when will our senior national football team—the Black Stars—break this Afcon jinx? We participated in Gabon Afcon 2017. We were in a tough group.
This was a group that comprised Ghana, Egypt, Mali and Uganda. In the face of the difficult group we found ourselves in we however, managed to qualify to the next stage of the tournament—the quarterfinals—albeit we were beaten by the Pharaohs of Egypt in the group stage. Of course, our loss to Egypt did not matter since we had already qualified at the time. We sailed through the quarterfinals by beating DR Congo 2-1— courtesy goals by the Ayew brothers. Then we reached the semifinals. And just as some of us thought we were on course to progressing to the finals and breaking the 35-year-old gremlin, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon spoiled our forward march by beating us 2-0 in the semifinals to qualify to the finals, leaving Ghana to contend with either the third/fourth spot. Eventually Cameroun beat Egypt in the finals, wining their fifth Afcon trophy. For my country-Ghana-we only had to settle for the fourth place, following our defeat to Burkina Faso in the 3rd and 4th place match
There and then it dawned on us that we would have to wait for two more years—which is Cameroon 2019—to see whether we can break this 35-year-long jinx. The last time the Black Stars won the Africa Cup of Nations was in the year 1982. The team at the time had the likes of Abedi Pele, Seth Ampadu, John Essien, Opoku Nti, George Alhassan, Kofi Abbrey, Akwasi Appiah, Frimpong Manso, Ben Kayede, Joseph Carr etc., who placed a lot of weight on the love for the game and country. For many of those players at the time although money was important, it was considered secondary to their passion for the game. These were players who were disciplined.
However, a completely different narrative is being written about our current Black Stars. Its money first and all other matters are secondary. Thus, we can have a situation where the players would hold the entire nation to ransom and threaten that they will only play if their bonuses are paid. So, then the ruling government in its attempt to meet the demands of the players will fly millions of US dollars from Ghana to Brazil to be given to the players before they will play. Preposterous! But after the 1982 Afcon trophy, we have managed to reach the finals on three consecutive times. The only thing that we crave and yearn for now is our 5th Afcon trophy.
So, it happened that the Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, took his turn at Parliament’s Appointments Committee. He fairly dealt with the questions that were posed to him by members of the committee. He made it clear that he would route everything through the National Sports Authority (NSA). This was an answer in response to how he will be dealing with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and especially football matters. Funnily, popular sports presenter of Asempa FM in Accra, Songo, refers to officials of GFA as football people. The sports minister during his vetting had some words of praise for the GFA President, Kwesi Nyantakyi. He praised the Nyantakyi GFA-led administration for ensuring that the Black Stars qualify for the World Cup on three consecutive times—2006, 2010 and 2014.
Yes, the Nyantakyi administration deserves applause for qualifying Ghana to the World Cup soccer fiesta. But Mr. Sports Minister is that all there is to it? That we qualify and do not bring home any laurels? If it’s about qualification only then there is no point even competing in these tournaments. We might as well resolve not to even participate in the qualifiers. In that sense, monies that will be expended on the Black Stars can be used to build schools, hospitals and roads for deprived communities in this country.
Currently, the strong passion that Ghanaians exhibited anytime the Black Stars were playing does not exist. What is now happening is that a lot more Ghanaians today do not care when the Black Stars are playing. It is as if Ghanaians have severed relations with the Black Stars. And all this is attributable to the Black Stars participation in the Brazil 2014 World Cup where the players demonstrated crass indiscipline. In fact, what happened in Brazil 2014 must never repeat itself in the football history of this country.
So how do we break the jinx? It will take a multiplicity of factors for us to win our 5th Afcon trophy. I have heard people advocate that we employ a Ghanaian coach to handle the Black Stars. Not a bad suggestion at all. Honestly, a well-disciplined and committed Black Stars with the passion to play for the country will earn us our 5th Afcon trophy. Thus, it is about time players who play for the Black Stars sacrificed a bit for the country. The players must bear in mind that the country has invested so much in them and that it is time for us to reap the returns of all those investments.
Yes, I know today is Valentine’s Day and I cannot end without wishing my cherished readers happy Val’s Day. It is a day for all of us to savour; a day to show love to friends, loved ones, relatives and even enemies. Let’s all use today to demonstrate our love to each other.
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