Is the Black Stars Football Team Under-performing?

    Dear Compatriots, I have recently read this tagged news report by Sports News titled, "Black Starts Voted Team of the Year". (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/artikel.php?ID=212696&comment=0#com).  My first reaction on reading it was two-fold. How odd that the Black Stars (BS) are still receiving accolades? The award must be from a reputable world football body about some feat or other we had all missed. But no, surprisingly it was from the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG).  Precisely because of the incongruence of this award to the reality of what the Black Stars are actually achieving now, I must critique the SWAG award.

    First, here we go again with the self-congratulation and regurgitated praises. The Black Stars certainly gave a brilliant account of themselves as the leading African team in the last World Cup. But while Ghana is experiencing perhaps its most abysmal performance in all categories of competitive international football, the SWAG calls wolf.

    Second, has it occurred to SWAG that the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa from, June 11^th – July 11th 2010, over a year ago? If it has then this renders their award belated. It warrants a reality check for SWAG. In the interim, the BS has lost more international matches than it has won. Consequently, it has climbed from 15 to 33 in the FIFA rankings – a whopping 18 points up. 

    Let us examine the daunting statistics. In April and May 2011, the BS was 15^th in the FIFA rankings. The reason for its demise is understandable. On 11/8/10 the BS lost to S. Africa 1-0. 5/9/10 Swaziland 0-3 BS. 10/10/10 Sudan 0-0 BS. 17/11/10 Saudi Arabia 0–0 BS. 8/2/11 Togo 1-4 BS. 27/3/11 Congo 0-3 BS. 29/3/11 England 1-1 BS. 3/6/11 Congo 1-3 BS. 7/6/11 Korea 2-1 BS.

    Now, considering the above statistics how does the football chips fall? Well, this means puny Israel which did not even qualify for the last World Cup now ranks 30^th, three points better than Ghana. Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia) which Ghana humiliated in the 2006 World Cup is 28^th. Serbia our first victim in the last World Cup is 25^th. USA our second victim is 24th. The Ivory Coast is discordantly wearing the BS crown at 14. Even the tremulous ‘Three Lions’ of England, luckily leaving bristles from its tail in the snapping jaws of the Black Stars in their 29/3/11 friendly, is 4^th!   

    God help dampen the complacency of the BS when they play Swaziland on 2/10/11 and the Sudan on 7/10/11. So in all this, could one ask if the SWAG awarding to the BS was for beating the Congo, the only team it has beating in recent years? Could the tag, "The Black Stars, the Most Under-Achieving Team of The Year" be more accurate?

   We can't afford the retrograde, stagnating, chest-thumping, beer-bar-brawling, argumentative, bravado nonsense of the past. We must respond to present challenges. The state must work in tandem with the private sector to urgently organise a nation-wide survey to evaluate and put into practice sensible opinions from all sectors involved in football promotion in Ghana.  Their variables must include: coaching and training, training grounds management, resourcing/logistics, funding, player salary/welfare, best-practice transfer management, planning, development of youth/girls/women football and medical/psychological counseling of players.

    Ghana must rediscover her own, home-grown brand of football.  We must rebuild from the days of Baba Yara (for his aerial awareness, intuition, speed and dribbling skills), Osei Kofi (speed, dribbling and accuracy of shots), Mohammed Polo (dribbling, speed, aerial intelligence), Robert Mensah (aerial savvy, grip and confidence in goal), Osei Kofi (mesmerising dribbling, overall football intelligence), Robert ‘Apoku’ Kwofie (his surges, powerful, Roberto Carlos-like shots), Kuuku Dadzie (aerial intelligence, superb marking, tenacity), Abedi Pele (speed, dribbling, aerial intelligence), Tony Yeboah  (speed, accuracy of shot around the box), etc.  

    We must re-embrace aggressive, athletic, quick-passing, total (all-defend-all-attack) football. Tenacious, confident, technical and skillful football must continue to be the guiding beam of Ghanaian football at all levels.  We must believe we can and lead the world of football.

Kofi of Africa