Stars, make it triple over USA
The Black Stars, the pride of Africa and toast of the continent at the 2010 Mundial in South Africa, will be in battle on Monday.
The Stars come face-to-face with the Yanks or Stars and Stripes, the national team of the United States of America that Ghana have humbled in two previous World Cup tournaments in Germany and South Africa.
Ghana’s first participation in the World Cup in Germany in 2006 made the team the toast of the continent and the Stars performed creditably again four years later in South Africa 2010.
Ghana should make a statement with its third appearance at the World Cup to prove the sceptics wrong that the team’s excellent performances in 2006 and 2010 were not just by chance.
Since coach Kwasi Appiah took charge of the Black Stars, a section of Ghanaians do not think he has the pedigree to take Ghana beyond the group stage at Brazil 2014.
These same people did not give Appiah even a dog’s chance of qualifying Ghana to the Mundial, but by dint of hard work, we are in Brazil and in the toughest group.
Majority are of the view that with self-belief, we can hold ourselves as a force to reckon with against the dreaded Portuguese and Germans as well as the less-fancied USA.
We think it should be the expectation of all, no matter the circumstances, to rally the Black Stars to excel at Brazil 2014.
More than five decades ago, our first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, proclaimed loudly that “.....the Black man is capable of governing himself or herself”.
Regrettably, there are Ghanaians out there who think that the Ghanaian cannot hold his own against the well-celebrated coaches in the world, especially at the biggest entertainment forum in Brazil.
The Daily Graphic urges Ghanaians to believe in Coach Appiah’s capability to direct the Stars to surmount any challenge from our rivals in the group stage and go into the knockout stages determined to carry the day.
Just as it was in 2006 and 2010, the African dream, led by Ghana, is on and since we know that players do better when supporters cheer them on, we urge every Ghanaian to rally behind the Stars to first overcome the Yanks on Monday and deal decisively with the threat from Germany and Portugal thereafter.
The Daily Graphic knows that Ghanaians will show their support for the Black Stars ahead of Monday’s encounter with the Yanks by flying their Ghana flags on buildings, shops, offices and on top of their cars.
Let us, in typical parlance, paint the entire country in the colours of Ghana and the Black Stars, so that our rally will resonate in the camps of the Stars in Natal.
Let all Ghanaians turn up at the drinking joints, fan parks, offices and all public places to cheer on the Black Stars to another historic victory over the USA on Monday.
The Daily Graphic appeals to the players and the technical bench not to break the heart of the nation by any lacklustre performance.
We are certain that the Black Stars and the other African teams will pull the chestnut out of the blazing fire to begin Africa’s dominance in global football despite yesterday’s setback suffered by Cameroun.
