Sports
Stars’ Qatar glory hinges on loyalty
IT is nearly a dozen days since Ghana’s Black Stars stunned a star-studded overrated Nigeria’s Super Eagles to qualify for their fourth FIFA World Cup tournament.
Against all the odds heavily stacked against them, the Stars soared to the challenge – fought tooth-and-nail, and held Nigeria’s Super Eagles to an energy-sapping 1-1 draw in the 60,000-plus capacity MKO Abuja Sports Stadium.
Having earlier played out a barren game in the first leg of the Qatar World Cup play-off in Kumasi, the Stars delightfully qualified via the away-goal rule.
It was downright shock to the Abuja fans who thought they had no choice than vent their spleen on facilities at the MKO stadium – vandalising everything in sight. Though highly unfortunate, sometimes that is the extreme football can travel.
Well, as Nigerians continue to count their cost, it is high time we got down to brass tack as regards sending a formidable team to Qatar whose tournament starts this November 21.
On Friday, Ghana was thrown into a tight Group H of a Qatar 2022 World Cup that includes Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Luis Suarez’s Uruguay as well as South Korea.
Indeed, we have barely seven months to prepare for a tournament which should see us putting right the wrongs of Brazil 2014 where Ghana became a laughing stock because of the team’s internal wrangling.
Ghana’s Brazil squad had everything in talent and technique but commitment and patriotism.
Truth is, money got the better of them as they totally forgot why they were at the tournament.
Whilst we congratulate the team once again for flushing out Nigeria out of their way, the technical team – spearheaded by Otto Addo would now have to turn attention on getting players who are ready, loyal and committed to play for the country. We do not have time pleading with players to don their own national colours.
One thing that has haunted our game over the years is getting half-baked, uncommitted and less patriotic entities into the national team. Such players are all-too ready to cry wolf, even when there is no dog; and they make trouble at the slightest faux pas.
Let be known to our national team selectors that we are not going to Qatar just to make the numbers; we are storming there to carve a niche for ourselves and for African football.
Already, because of the brave display of the boys in their last two qualifiers, a number of revered football icons including Nigeria’s Jay Jay Okocha have tipped the Stars as one of the teams to look out for. Great Scott!
As such, we need players who would play as champions – demonstrating lots of passion and desire; and be prepared to die on the pitch rather than throw up hands in despair.
Heartily, a good number of the present Ghana contingent has copiously demonstrated some great derring-do and a character that suggest they can defend the national flag with their last drop of blood. That is the way to go!
However, one department that is of great concern to most Ghanaians is the forwardline and our technical team must as a matter of urgency find a way of cutting that Gordian knot. To say the team must be beefed up is stating the obvious.
Mention has been made of a couple of players including Spanish-born Ghanaian forward Inaki Williams Arthur, who plays for Atletic Bilbao. He is a pure terror in attack who would give opposing defence real torment to deal with if we are fortunate to get him into our fold.
Born to a Ghanaian father and a Liberian mother, the 28-year-old Arthur is a holder of multiple citizenships which makes him eligible to play for Ghana. Several failed attempts by the GFA to convince him to switch nationality, however, have hit a snag. This time, Iñaki may have changed his mind, following Ghana’s qualification for the World Cup.
One other issue that is of grave concern is talk of revenge on Uruguay. There is nothing to revenge!
We should rather concentrate on our preparation and stop being emotional about what happened in South Africa 2010. If we put this revenge thing into the minds of our boys, we might be humiliated by Uruguay and crash home after the group stage.
Indeed, care must be taken so that we do not exert all our energy on beating Uruguay and slumping in the other games that are equally tough. We must take every game as a final and that is the surest way of making it to the Round of 16
Obviously, we are not going to Qatar because of Uruguay. We must go there and entertain the world with our deluxe football as well as qualify from the group.
It is true that Uruguay were responsible for Ghana’s quarter-final exit at the 2010 World Cup when their star player Luis Suarez scooped a last-gasp goal-bound ball from the net. But the referee subsequently gave us a spot-kick for that ‘sin’ – and it was squandered by top goal-poacher Asamoah Gyan. Ghana consequently lost the ensuing shoot-out after the extra-time failed to produce a winner.
Let us not forget we have Portugal and South Korea to deal with in the group. The two are equally combatively blistering battles.
What we need now is focus and getting our preparations right. The Black Stars will shine again, but it would all depend on us.
PlainTalk With John Vigah
Ghana Premier League side, Nations FC, may have suffered the drop in the just ended Premier League and are destined for a fresh campaign in the Division One League (DOL).
But they stand a huge chance of remaining in the elite stage of the game as they face Dreams FC in an epic MTN FA Cup final at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium tomorrow at 6pm.
Dreams FC have been there before; going ahead to taste the honours in the 2022-23 season after defeating King Faisal.
Coming from a season that saw them crawl from the initial stages of the league to finish on a respectable fourth position, they come in as strong favourites to double their honours in the nation’s second top football competition.
History favours them in this regard. On their first final, they conquered and based on this, connoisseurs of the game have tipped them to make it ‘two-on-two.’
But Nations FC have been empowered by the age-old adage that “He that is down need fear no fall.”
Nothing can be worse than suffering relegation and exiting the limelight as far as exposure is concerned.
But the FA offers a decent opportunity to make them stay relevant.
Conquering Dreams FC would not just make them MTN FA Cup champions. It will grant them the prestigious slot to represent Ghana in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) second tier club competition- the Confederations Cup.
With Dreams FC harbouring the same ambitions, the stage is, therefore, set for a final that promises to be explosive and uncompromising.
The situation of Nations FC might have come to many as a surprise, considering their promising start to the season, with their defence especially, marshalled by Black Stars defender, Razak Simpson, and colleague central defender, Raymond Grippman, earning a lot of reviews.
But despite the struggles they endured at certain times of their campaign, the MTN FA Cup always provided slices of good fortunes as they managed to navigate their way to the final.
Road to the top
Nations FC began the MTN FA Cup competition on a promising note, enjoying some good runs with a win over DOL Zone Two side, Ebony FC, in the Round of 64.
That landed them in a tricky encounter with another high-flying Zone Two candidate, AshantiGold SC, a side that eventually won the title from the zone to qualify to the Premier League, but escaped.
At the round of 16 stage, they encountered and defeated Ghana Premier League side, Swedru All Blacks, 2-1 to gain progression to the quarter final stage where they edged Berekum Chelsea on penalties.
A dicey semi-final awaited them against Aduana FC in Swedru. It was a game Nations was given little chance to escape considering Aduana FC’s form but once again, they conquered to secure a final berth.
In total, the Abrankese-based club have scored eight goals and conceded only two throughout the competition, making them one of the strongest defensive sides in the tournament.
For Dreams FC, they defeated Division One League Zone Three side, Semper Fi, 2-1 to progress to the next stage of the competition where they accounted for Division Two side, Asanska FC, 2-0.
That handed them a quarterfinal berth where they faced Inter Allies and drew one all before winning 4-3 on penalties.
The happiest moment in their success story was a 3-2 semi-final win over GPL winners, Medeama SC.
With that feat, Dreams have been touted as potential winners as the match comes at a time the Nations FC side may be psychologically down over the weight of the challenge they face in the next season.
However, the competition has gain notoriety for not following any form guide and outcomes mostly coming as major surprises.
In this regard, Dreams may be tipped as favourite candidates but though Nations are wounded, the stakes could revive an insatiable desire to apply the brakes to turn the dreams of Dreams FC into a nightmare.
Support
The support from MTN Ghana has no doubt improved competition among the clubs with the attractive incentive packages for participating clubs.
MTN Ghana, which is celebrating 30 years of operations in Ghana, formally became headline sponsors of the Ghana FA Cup in the 2010/2011 football season after the competition had returned from an eight-year hiatus.
The first edition under MTN sponsorship was won by Nania FC, who defeated Asante Kotoko 1–0 in the final at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Since then, the competition has been known as the MTN FA Cup, with MTN renewing its sponsorship several times — in 2013, 2017, 2020 and again for subsequent seasons.
By Andrew Nortey
The Black Stars have opened camp in Cardiff ahead of next week’s international friendly against Wales.
The team is being taken through training drills by head coach Carlos Queiroz.
Thirteen players trained at Dragon Park on Monday, with others expected to join the squad on Tuesday.
They include Ernest Nuamah, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Jordan Ayew, Caleb Yirenkyi, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Elisha Owusu, Gideon Mensah, Marvin Senaya, Jerome Opoku, Benjamin Asare, Joseph Anang, Solomon Agbasi, and Alidu Seidu.
The Black Stars will train in Cardiff for one week ahead of the international friendly against Wales on Tuesday, June 2, before traveling to the United States of America.
Coach Carlos Queiroz will use the period to assess his players before naming his final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Twenty-six players will be submitted to FIFA on Monday, June 1, as mandated by the competition regulations.
The Black Stars are drawn in Group L with Panama, England, and Croatia. They will open their World Cup campaign against Panama on June 17 in Toronto before facing England and Croatia in their other group matches.
