Worst ‘clasico’ in decades

 Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko are the biggest traditional clubs in Ghana, without doubt.

There is no argument about their status as far as Ghana football is concerned. Despite their struggles in recent times, the weight of these clubs weigh heavily on the others who seem to be doing well.

In Africa, they seem to have experienced a serious slump in terms of performance on the field but in the history books, they remain strong forces.

In the glory days of Hearts and Kotoko, they were used to gauge the success of football in Ghana.

It is the reason why even in their weakest moment, games against them by the smaller clubs are considered huge tasks.

Just like it is in other countries, they provide local soccer fans with Ghana’s version of the ‘El Clasico’ which usually pitches the top two clubs of every country.

Ghana’s version of this great meeting was honoured on Sunday at the Accra Sports Stadium and the least said about the performance from the two teams, the better.

It was the poorest in recent times as fans had very little to enjoy from the drab game. It should explain the levels to which Ghana football has dropped, especially the local league.

Under normal circumstances, a clash between Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko would create a holiday atmosphere; with several roads around the stadium and ministries area closed to traffic.

Security is heavily felt with fans preferring to leave their vehicles at home and go with public transport to avoid the traffic congestion around the venue – both Accra and Kumasi.

That exciting and anxious atmosphere appear to have lost. Now fans have become apathetic to Ghana’s Clasico.

The scene at the Accra Sports Stadium last Sunday was nothing to write home about; it was sad. It was sad to an extent that a game that required fans to be around the stadium by 12noon and go in by 2pm is now played in a virtually empty stadium.

The current Ghana ‘Clasicos’ lack the players whose names alone were enough to quench the thirst of supporters. With few media houses and the absence of social media platforms to promote such games, the mere mention or knowledge of players to appear for both sides were enough tool to hype the game.

Hearts of Oak fans would flood the stadium in their numbers, confident of seeing players like Ablade Kumah, Shamo Quaye, Owusu Afriyie, Offei Ansah, Ezekiel Alamu, Nanabenyin Crenstil, Emmanuel Armah, Joe Addo, Thomas Hammond, Thomas Quaye and others.

And at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) end of the pitch, one would see fans of Asante Kotoko cladded in red chanting names like Mohammed Odoom, Anthony Osei Kwadwo, Kwesi Appiah, Frank Amankwa, Emmanluel Appiah, Frimpong Manso, Stanley Abora, Sarfo Gyamfi, Joe Debrah, Thomas Boakye, Olli Rahmen, Isaac Boakye and others.

Any team that faced Hearts of Oak or Kotoko with these players in their line up knows it would not end well with them.

So anytime they meet each other, everyone was aware it would rain fire and brimstone.

But what is seen nowadays is quite unfortunate. Player quality has become a major headache for fans. One even wonders how some were recruited into the teams.

Interestingly, police numbers at the stadium last Sunday was more than the fans that turned out to watch the game, a situation that greatly affected the game’s temperament.

Clearly, it shows the level to which Ghana football has sank; calling for urgent measures to rescue it.

The game is lacking the players whose performances would keep fans cheering for over one hour and 30 minutes. Where these players have gone to remains a mystery. We have blamed player exodus on the poor quality of the league but little has been done to halt the trend because of the love for the mighty dollar.

Secondly, the mode of recruitment or scouting have become another problem as very good and talented players are ignored for players with managers that can pay for the platforms to perform to earn a deal abroad.

The problems are numerous with solutions in sight very few but if what fans watched as Ghana’s clasico is anything to go by, then stakeholders must rise up to save Ghana football.

 By Andrew Nortey