What is causing continental fiasco?

The old adage says emphatically: "God's time is the best"! But it has its limit, as a matter of course.

For countries that find it impossible to assume continental football superiority such as Kenya, Tanzania, Benin and others with very low level of comparative advantage, it is not difficult to understand why they are simply not making any impact, especially at the senior level.

However, there are certain countries on the continent that can easily be classified as being endowed with wonderful talents who are full of skills to make it easy to win cups at any level of competition on the continent and even make impact at the world level. 

For instance, when a country such as Uganda with athletics superstars such as Aki-Bua and others realised that they had to back up in the game of football, their best has been winning silver medals at  the continental level. Uganda rose to the occasion and reached the grand finale in the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations staged in this lovely Coast of Gold, and the impression they created was that sooner or later, they would mount the rostrum to receive the continental football crown.

The Ugandan experience happened when this land was ruled by military strongman Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. The Head of State made sure the Cup would be won at all cost. He sent a strong set of young men to Brazil to train specially for the task, and they actually did it. Indeed, our winning of the cup could be predicted by a soothsayer worth his salt, for with such fine team led by captain Awuley Quaye and his men such as Kyenkyenhene, Golden Boy Abdul Razak, Mohammed Polo, Opoku Afriyie and others swearing fealty not to allow the cup to move away from this country, there was no way any country could impose itself on us.

The Uganda squad that travelled to the last end to face the Black Stars needed all the powers to deprive this nation of the Cup. They displayed some qualities which attracted great respect in their men like Phiri and the rest. General Acheampong was too delighted to hand the cup over to his compatriots.

Two years later in Nigeria, it was the turn of the Nigerians to prove a point  with such stars such as ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami and others in top form. That year the Black Stars flopped miserably and couldn't go past the group level. They were stabbed by Algeria who went ahead to face their nemesis in the host nation who swiftly at the next tournament held in the revolutionary Libya under the authority of the late Col. Quadaffi. 

But the tide turned swiftly at the next tournament held in the revolutionary Libya under the authority Col. Quadaffi. That tournament was reluctantly attended by the Black Stars under the revolutionary powers of Fl. Lt. J.J. Rawlings whose Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) initially declared there were no funds to finance the contingent, but enjoyed the goodwill of the Libyan leader who virtually footed the bill of the Ghanaian contingent enthusiastically hammered them 3-0 to lift the trophy, the first in their history.

Incidentally, like what happened at the recently-ended CHAN competition, it was the Black Stars and the Libyans who finally went for the crown. Hardworking Emmanuel Quarshie of blessed memory and his men, backed by goalkeeper Owusu Mensah of  Okwawu United fame, worked like a loom to hold the Libyans to a draw, and in the resultant penalties pipped the strong Libyans.

That was the historical fourth triumph by the Black Stars, and that marked the blackout and full stop of the team to the continental trophy.

And to top up the beautiful achievement of the Black Stars, Kumasi Asante Kotoko challenged Africa the following year and  won the continental cup, making light work of Al-Ahly of Egypt with a  lone goal under the noses of their fanatical followers at their favourite Kumasi Stadium. Was that another mark of "full stop" for Asante Kotoko too?

Indeed, more than three decades have passed with everybody wondering what has gone amiss. The continental test for the Black Stars beckoned in 2008 when the Cup was brought to this land. And the greatest surprise was the manner in which the nation enthusiastically embraced it, built new stadia and got set to receive the trophy here.

But Egypt showed us how to win a continental crown in modern times, and that marked the end of the great sporting activity of President J.A. Kufuor who ended his reign that year. The nation was stunned, and many questions were asked about the fate of the nation as far as the Africa Cup was concerned.

The fact remains that the Stars have since 1982 never won the Cup, and Asante Kotoko too have not shown any signs of winning the clubs’ cup since 1983. People have questioned whether it was true that the Black Stars would never win the continental trophy so long as the promises made before the 1982 victory were not fulfilled. Of course, others look at it from a different perspective. 

Well, it is never too late to put things in their right perspective as has been done in various parts of the world, even by people with whom we share our borders in the north. Events that spell our doom and sadness have been visiting our shores almost everyday in all fields, including sports. We call for reverses and offer several suggestions to no avail, and we can see ourselves sinking deep on the continent as others outclass us and overtake us since that silver jubilee.

How long shall we look on unconcerned as we see our mistakes multiplying from one generation to another. Not that others are better than us, but we are facing a daunting task which needs a simple answer coming from a simple understanding for our own good.  We deserve to smile! Good luck!