Black stars must shine
It is the world cup season and all minds are tuned to Brazil, where the global football fiesta is taking place. Before the commencement of the games, the hopes of Ghanaians were very high.
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In fact there was no shortage of talk to the effect that, all things being equal, the Black Stars would become the first African team to win the much coveted world cup.
What happened to the Black Stars in their first match against arch rivals, the USA, is not news anymore and not something worth repeating to the Ghanaian ear. To say the least, Ghana was humbled but not humiliated.
It is for this reason that I like to ask my compatriots not to lose hope but look at the brighter side of life. Who ever thought that Spain, the defending World Champions, would be so routed by the Netherlands! Such is football, as it is with life.
But the ongoing fixtures aside, there are certain concerns with regard to Ghana’s participation in the World football fiesta that needs commenting on. For instance, our preparations for the games were wobbly, to say the least.
From where I stand, I am convinced that the Black Stars were not made to play enough friendly games to test their strategies.
A world cup tournament is not a game for minnows, and as such all avenues ought to have been explored to ensure that the country presented the best set of players.
It is an open secret that the defence setup of the team was going to be a problem and so steps should have been taken to include some experienced players in the squad.
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Even though Isaac Vorsah was said to have been injured in the early part of the year, there was news later on that he had recovered and had begun training with his team in Europe.
A player of his stature should not have been sidelined completely. The same feeling, for me, goes for John Mensah and ‘Olele’ Richard Kinston, even though some people will disagree with me.
You see in a critical game such as the world cup, experience counts a lot. The Black Stars need players who have seen it all before at the world stage. Even though the young lads who played against the USA are playing in foreign leagues, the world cup is a different matter altogether.
Now that we have been beaten, I guess there is no need to cry over spilt milk.
That having been said, there were also some scheming behind the scenes in our preparation towards Brazil 2014 that must never be repeated. I can say without fear that almost all the 25 million of us Ghanaians avidly support the Black Stars. When they win, we all bask in the glory and when they lose we bow down our heads in disgrace.
That is why in selecting people to go cheer the Black Stars the criteria used should have been broad to include all shades of people.
We pay our taxes as it were. The tax collector does not say NPP supporters alone must pay tax and NDC supporters must not to pay tax.
Under the circumstance it was unbelievable that the Deputy Minister of Sports, Mr Joseph Yamin, could look Ghanaians in the face and say that supporters of the NDC would form the bulk of the supporters group that are going to Brazil to support the Black Stars.
In fact, even the decision to sponsor fans to Brazil was wrong in the first place.
We have talked for a long time of trying to avoid tendencies that divide the people, particularly along ethnic and political lines. But, unfortunately some politicians still speak in a manner that smack of divisiveness
At present all is not well with the team in Brazil. Whatever it is that is causing trouble must be resolved quickly, else it could spell a death knell for our tournament aspiration. After the USA walloped us, there was news of a rebellion in the camp of the Black Stars. Let us hope that the alleged threat by some players to desert camp is not true.
The rumour mill had it that the players were kicking against the coach’s player selection criteria. This came against the backdrop of a critique of the coach’s tactics in an interview with one of the senior players after the match.
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The player criticised the coach’s decision to start a crucial world cup game without his core players. Even though one might say that the senior player talked out of turn, he was by every stretch very pained of the way things went.
At the same time, the coach’s answer to a question from the media that he was resting his more skillful players until such time that the Americans got tired, really begged the question. All is definitely not well in the camp of the Black Stars. It is hoped, however, that things will look good before our next match on Saturday.
Considering the hype that was given to Ghana’s participation in the games, the Black Stars will have to work really hard to put smiles back on the faces of Ghanaians.