Editorial: A CHAN to remember

The local Black Stars returned home to a warm reception from the just-ended CHAN in South Africa where they were losing finalists to their Libyan counterparts after a penalty shootout.

It was Ghana’s second loss in the final in three tournaments, which must be disheartening to many a Ghanaian fan, even though the team’s rise to this year’s final must have been largely unexpected.

If the truth must be told, the general performance of the Stars hardly forbode a placing in the final, but once they saw off the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the semis, they became every Ghanaian’s tip to lift the trophy for the first time.

It was not that Ghanaians were disrespectful of the opponents, Libya, who held the Stars to a 1-1 draw at the group stage. The fact is that Ghana’s pedigree on the continental stage preceded the Stars.

However, on the day of the final, the Libyans were better and should have won within regulation time or extra time. Indeed, without being chauvinistic, we would admit that the Libyans deserved the victory.

After all, 32 years ago when they hosted the Africa Nations Cup proper we similarly pipped them on penalties to lift the cup for an unprecedented fourth time then (Egypt have since surpassed all that with seven wins).

The CHAN in South Africa is now history, but the parallel cannot be missed, that in 1982 Ghana was in a political upheaval when the Stars won the Nations Cup in Libya, just as there is an ongoing upheaval in Libya now, the reason for which they even had to forfeit the right to host the CHAN.

But we, as Ghanaians, may be consoled by the fact that the CHAN must have afforded the opportunity for some local players to stake their claim for inclusion in the Stars for the Brazil 2014 World Cup in June.

Coach Kwasi Appiah was at the tournament himself and saw things at close quarters to make an informed judgement, aside from the input from his assistant, Maxwell Konadu, who handled the CHAN team. 

Without prejudice, we can name goalkeeper Stephen Adams, central defender Kwabena Adusei and attacking midfielder Asiedu Attobrah as revelations at the CHAN who warrant consideration for Brazil.

All other members of the team did their best and deserve our congratulations on raising the national flag high in South Africa.

Not least, the technical and the management teams, as well as the supporters and the government, for their respective roles in pushing the team to perform beyond our wildest dreams.

We cannot fail to remember that this was the CHAN that Ghana entered with little hope, yet came out with the runners-up title.

We only wish that the Stars will be third-time lucky at the next CHAN in Rwanda in 2016. 

Kudos!