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Forget about number of assistants: It’s the Cup that matters!
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In the course of the week, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) endorsed the engagement of Portuguese tactician – Patrick Greveraas, as second Assistant Coach for the senior national football team, Black Stars.
The move, we have been told, was at the behest of head coach of the team, CK Akonnor. It may sound quite weird, especially when we already have David Duncan serving as the first assistant to Akonnor.
Well, we understand that is what the Stars chief trainer himself bargained for. And, he was specific about the choice – an expatriate.
Seven months ago, too, came the appointment of German German Benhard Lippert as new Technical Director of the GFA.
There have been hordes of 64,000-dollar questions from Ghanaians as to what may have triggered the appointment of an additional assistant – and also the interrogation of the role of Duncan in the team.
Is it that Akonnor is not eliciting the requisite technical support from Duncan or thinks the first assistant does not have what it takes to complement his quest to drive the Stars to nirvana? That response lies in the bosom of Akonnor.
Importantly, however, the coaches must find a way of working as a team in order to achieve the desired result.
The 45-year-old Greveraas, a former PSV Youth Coach – and ex-Feyenoord assistant, is expected to use his expertise to bring some quality to bear on the technical team ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Indeed, the new deputy trainer is already in the country sharing ideas with his boss, as the Stars prepare to engage Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire on June 8 and June 12 respectively – in friendlies.
One does not really care about the number of coaches the FA wants to hire or bring on board (once they wield some class) to ensure Ghana wins the continental coronet. It is one trophy Ghana needs badly.
Many of the nation’s youth today are yet to witness Ghana lift the Nations Cup at the senior level. It is a disturbing phenomenon. It is a distressing lamentation!
Year-in-year-out, we swagger into the continental campaigns with blazing optimism only for our dreams to come crashing into smithereens! Indeed, the last time Ghana felt and held the trophy was in Libya 1982 – some 39 years ago!
It is as bewildering as pathetic!
A lot of theories have been propounded ostensibly to find out what had gone wrong all these years. Some say it had something to do with hard luck – Cote d’Ivoire having upstaged the Black Stars twice at the lotteries of penalty shoot-out (1992 and 2015), to win their only trophies.
We only hope we have learned some hard lessons going into Cameroon 2021. Well, there might be nothing wrong with beefing up our technical staff. The number does not really matter. What is most significant is the quality of players we bring on board. We need to see some serious-minded, supremely loyal, technically-gifted and patriotic guys making up the national team.
Again, it really does not matter the kind of technical assistant you dash in for. You can haul in the best technical brain, but that effort could be rendered feckless if not complemented with players who are all-too ready to fight on the pitch and deliver.
Already, Ghanaians have not been amused about the team since the calamitous Brazil 2014 World Cup tournament, and the players cannot afford to exacerbate matters.
We need to get players who are fully-loaded for bear, to die out of exhaustion on the pitch rather than give up – or throw their hands up in despair, when the going gets tough.
As we have seen in some previous Black Stars games, the thirst to grind the result sometimes typically goes missing. This must not be the case, this time around.
Ghanaians hate to see their Stars slump in defeat so effortlessly. Even in defeat, fastidious fans would still be fine to applaud the players, once they see them fight fiercely all through a game.
Our players must always be ready to fight; they must battle and hunger for the points once they don the national shirt.
They(players) can pretend not to care about their image; but they must always be reminded that the nation’s reputation matters – and should seek to safeguard it, anytime they plunge into action.
John Vigah
Days before the Black Stars exit from the World Cup, the national team jersey was the hottest item in Ghana and markets in Tamale.
Today, they swings on trees, while song hang motionless in frontage of shops and roadside stalls, due to Ghana’s painful exit from the championship.
The excitement that once gripped football fans across the country has suddenly given way to disappointment, leaving hundreds of traders with unsold Black Stars jerseys that many had hoped would ‘disappear’ before the tournament ended.
From the Central Market to Aboabo, Lamashegu, the hospital road pavement and other busy commercial centres in Tamale, retailers who had enjoyed brisk business during Ghana’s World Cup campaign now sit quietly beside stacks of jerseys, waiting for buyers who may never come.
“Business was booming when the Black Stars was in the tournament,” said Ibrahim Abdulai, a jersey dealer in Tamale.
“Every match day brought more customers. Some people even bought different jerseys after every match because they believed Ghana would go far.”
According to him, demand rose so sharply that prices nearly tripled as optimism swept across the country.
“A jersey that was selling for GH¢90 suddenly jumped to between GH¢200 and GH¢500 depending on the quality. The authentic replica jersey was the most sought-after and customers were willing to pay almost any price for them,” he explained.
The majority flooding the local markets were replicas of varying quality, imported quickly from Togo to meet growing demand.
For many buyers, authenticity didn’t matter, it was the show of support for the national team.
Some male fans were compelled to buy different customised jerseys for their girlfriends. A man spent GH¢1,850 on jerseys just to wow his girlfriend; so did many men. We hardly saw ladies buying the jerseys.
“I bought four different jerseys,” admitted 31-year-old football enthusiast, Richard.
“I wanted a different one for every important match. Football is about passion. When Ghana was progressing, everybody wanted to be part of the excitement.”
The World Cup frenzy created a temporary economic boom that extended beyond jersey sellers.
Young entrepreneurs offering on-the-spot customisation services worked tirelessly printing names, favourite players’ numbers and personalised messages on jerseys.
Street vendors, mobile hawkers, printers, embroidery operators and small retail businesses all benefited from the surge in demand.
“It wasn’t only the sellers making money,” explained Abdul Karim, who is specialised in jersey customisation.
“People wanted their own names or their favourite players’ names printed immediately. We worked from morning until late at night because the demand was overwhelming,” he added.
For many young people, the tournament provided short-term employment and a valuable source of income.
However, Ghana’s elimination brought the booming business to an abrupt halt.
“Some customers have even returned asking if they could exchange or return the jerseys because Ghana is out,” one trader said with a smile.
“We told them that once you buy it, you own it,” he said.
Others simply walked past the stalls without stopping, something that would have been unimaginable just a few days earlier.
Many traders are now hoping the jerseys will still attract buyers beyond the tournament, arguing that supporting the national team should not depend solely on winning.
Football analysts say the fluctuating demand demonstrates how sporting success influences consumer behaviour and local economies.
As national pride grew during Ghana’s World Cup journey, so did spending.
Every game came with increased confidence, higher demand and rising prices.
But once the dream ended, so did much of the commercial excitement.
The phenomenon reflects what has been witnessed in many football-loving nations around the world.
During successful international tournaments, national team merchandise often experiences unprecedented demand, creating opportunities for retailers, manufacturers and informal sector businesses. Yet the momentum can disappear almost overnight when a team is eliminated.
Karim noted that the unsold jerseys remind us that football brings people together.
“When Ghana was playing, everyone wore the colours with pride. The business may have slowed down, but our support for the Black Stars remains.”
As the World Cup continues without Ghana, the once highly sought-after jerseys remain suspended from tree branches to shop entrances and market stalls across Tamale, a symbol of hopes that soared with every victory but faded with the final whistle.
For now, the jerseys are still hanging.
Perhaps not for another World Cup match, but for another moment when the nation once again rallies behind the Black Stars, and the red, gold and green return to the streets with the same passion that briefly transformed football into business.
From Geoffrey Buta, Tamale
The four-day international tennis championship between the Accra Lawn Tennis Club of Ghana and Ikoyi Sports Club of Nigeria is set to reach its climax tomorrow at the Accra Lawn Tennis Courts (ALTC) in Accra.
According to the organisers, tomorrow would witness high profile matches with a lot at stake as both clubs aim to unsettle each other to enhance the rivalry between the two nations.
The event is an annual arrangement between the two clubs that sees the championship rotated among them.
The team representing Ghana includes Thomas Amoako Boafo, Issek Antwi-Agyei, Dr Abraham Oppong Adjei and Palm Nii Okine for the 40+ years’ division.
The trio of Dr Bankah, Abeiku Bentsi and Ekow Arthur will be in contention for the 50 years plus group while the pairs of Dr Maxwell Adjei and Edmund Nii Botchway, Frederick Van De Vyer and David Carreras and Nicholas Kumadey and Palm Nii Okine feature against the Nigerians in the Doubles championship.
In the Men’s division, the onus would be on Chris Hammond, Kweku Amakye, Nana Dr Kofi Boakye, Chris Tagoe, Dr Henry Holdbrook-Smith, Nick Akpebu, Brian Benneh and Michele Nemesi to make the ALTC proud.
The women for the Ladies competition are Kate Coleman, Fatiha Menzel, Naa Ofoli, Wendy Quartey, Wanda Quartey and Kuukua Bartels-Kodwo.
Veteran player, Peter Annan, will be the Acting Captain of Team Ghana and would be ably assisted by Lawrence Lartey.
Expected to lead the ALTC is Dr Maxwell Adjei, who is the newly elected Chairman of the club. He is also the Head of Dental at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital).
Mr Peter Annan, the Acting Captain of ALTC, told The Spectator that as part of the arrangement for the international friendly, a special tour was organised for members of Team Ikoyi.
He was confident that as the host club, ALTC will prevail as winners of this year’s edition which ends tomorrow.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
