Meteors celebrating a goal against Mozambique in their last game

Last Sunday, Ghana’s Black Meteors recorded back-to-back wins over their Mozambican counterparts in a CAF Under-23 Nations Cup qualifier in Kumasi.

The Ghanaians first registered a 2-1 away victory and sealed up the reverse mission to swagger away on a 4-1 aggregate delight.

The victory brings them face-to-face against Congo DR – doubtless, a lip-smacking crunch encounter whose aggregate winner qualifies for the CAF Under-23 African Cup of Nations tournament, next year.

Three teams from the Nations Cup qualify for the Olympics.

A little over two years ago, Ghana made it to the tournament proper, but failed to grab a ticket for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, after a heart-breaking loss at the shoot-out. That defeat still evokes a myriad of tear-jerking moments.

Four teams – hosts Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa represented the continent in Japan – the last two countries benefiting from Ghana’s pathetic penalty malaise to scrape through.

One too many, Ghana football has been swallowed up by this ‘penalty demon’ – throwing the nation into unending tears of torment.

That is why there are many football fans who have sworn not to watch penalty kicks involving Ghana, just to avoid further heart-breaks. You remember the Local Black Stars’ penalty loss to Senegal too, in the 2020 WAFU Cup of Nations final?

Indeed, the agony and melancholy of defeat during the lottery of penalty kicks can live with the football fan forever – maybe, the player too. Of course, when there is victory, the irrepressible joy that comes with it can also be so uplifting.

Of recent times, Ghana football at the senior level has suffered at the icy hands of the shoot-out – to the extent that some believe our football is under some kind of malediction.  Well, not too sure what it is.

What is clear is that Ghana often slumps shoddily when it comes to the post-game-dead-ball kicks.

Many are still at a loss as to how Ghana’s Black Meteors failed to make it to Tokyo, despite being given two lifelines in 96 hours. In the first instance, the Meteors rallied up to draw 2-2 in the semi-final encounter against Cote d’Ivoire in the CAF Under-23 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), before crashing at the spot-kicks.

Then came the third-place play-off that ended 2-2 with Ghana grabbing a last-gasp redeemer. The penalty kicks were quickly invoked. A win for the Meteors was going to send them to Ghana’s first Olympic Games in 16 years. They were tipped to make amends. But sadly, after throwing away their first kick, the South Africans went ahead to win 6-5. The Meteors were out rather distressingly!

One of the most recent of what appears to be a penalty hoodoo happened in 2015 when Ghana’s Black Stars crashed 8-9 in the finale of the African Cup of Nations, following a barren game after extra time in the Equatorial Guinea city of Bata.

It was a second title for the Ivorians whose only previous success came when they also accounted for Ghana in a similar post-match marathon shootout 11-10 in Dakar in 1992.  A total of 22 kicks were needed to settle the title in Bata with the Ivorians missing their first two attempts.

First two kicks missed! That even makes it more excruciating and heart-rending! Ghana’s agonising shoot-out defeat means the four-time champions are still waiting for their first Nations Cup success since 1982.

What may yet pose as big test is our ability to banish our penalty demons.

Indeed, as the Meteors prepare for the game against Congo DR, let them begin to plan effectively towards exorcising the penalty hex which has haunted our football for God knows how long.

As emotional as they are, penalty kicks in general and shoot-outs in particular are not just gambles, according to research. Behavioural economics research shows that there are methods that both the kicker and the goalkeeper can use to gain an edge, and one of the most crucial factors takes place before the shootout even begins: which team goes first.

Based on player interviews, nervousness seemed to be the likelier explanation. So it stands to reason that players are most nervous during the tie-breaking round of penalty kicks at the end of a long match.

Indeed, Meteors’ Edward Sarpong, glaringly, was full of nerves as he dashed to take what would have been his team’s winning penalty against South Africa in the third-place match.

Noticeably, edginess, tenseness, nerves and weariness have been identified as one of the possible causes of penalty misses and it is high time our technical men and handlers of our national teams, woke up to navigate around this challenge.

PlainTalk with JOHN VIGAH