Black Stars, ‘war’ not lost yet
Ghana went into last Saturday’s encounter with Germany as the underdogs. But in the course of the match, by dint of hard work, the Black Stars became the favourites to win the game that ended in a 2-2 draw.
Our inability to secure a ‘hat-trick’ of victory over the USA last Monday made us the most vulnerable team in Group G, considered as the ‘Group of Death’.
Meanwhile, prior to last Saturday’s clash with Germany, many people had worked out the Mathematics explaining why they think Ghana could make it to the next stage of the World Cup.
After Ghana’s lacklustre performance against the USA, a match many had tipped the Black Stars to win, Coach Kwesi Appiah set out to correct the mistakes by first reviewing the starting line up of the team. It was no longer time for experiment.
The business of the tournament dictated that he start the game especially against Germany with players fit and psychologically tuned up for big-stage soccer.
Many Ghanaians were very happy with the Star’s performance last Saturday, although the match ended in a draw. When the Germans led by a goal, the country was like a cemetery and the drop of a pin could be heard loud and clear.
But the lead by the German’s did not dampen the spirit of the Stars, who accepted the challenge and took the game to their opponents. Their efforts paid off with that powerful header from Dede Ayew for the equaliser
President John Mahama, in his message of motivation to the players last Saturday, had said, “Let us all watch this game with confidence in our Black Stars.”
Really Ghanaians gave the Black Stars their full support.
He assured Ghanaians, after our painful loss to the USA, that “we have lost a battle, despite fighting a good and strong fight, but we have carried on, defied the odds and risen up to win the ‘war’”.
Thus with the equalising goal from Dede Ayew, Ghana had signalled to the Germans that the battle towards the great war — qualification to the next stage, had just begun.
The goal boosted the morale of the Stars, who realised that the Germans were not superstars, after all, and that with a lot more effort, they could upset the Germans.
The Stars were on their way to causing the biggest upset at the tournament with the 2-1 lead but a defensive blunder again helped the Germans to spoil the biggest celebration back home in Ghana.
Although Ghanaians were disappointed with the scoreline, they were consoled by the fact that Ghana remain a force to be reckoned with.
Ghana’s performance has opened the chances of all the teams in the group, as they all have a 50-50 chance to scale over to the 1/16th stage of Brazil 2014. Our continued participation in the Mundial depends on how effectively we are able to deal with the threat posed by Portugal, inspired by the world’s best player, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Daily Graphic has said time and again that our success at the tournament depends on nothing but hard work and playing as a team.
That was why the Daily Graphic was worried when news made the rounds that there was agitation in the camp of the team.
Whatever it was, thank God, the players have, in the interest of Mother Ghana, put their concerns behind them.
We congratulate the Black Stars on their ‘vintage’ performance against Germany, who are tipped to win the World Cup, but we remind the Stars that the crucial battle lies ahead of them against Portugal on Thursday.
The Daily Graphic thinks that if the Black Stars go into the match against Portugal with the same enthusiasm, determination and hard work with which they went into the match against Germany, victory will crown their efforts.
We expect nothing but qualification to the next stage of the tournament from the Black Stars.
