Ghanaians have over the years witnessed the fluctuating trend with which the nation’s status on the continent and the world at large have depreciated and appreciated at particular points in time.
However, it took a string of sterling performances by the Black Stars at the Germany 2006 and the South Africa 2010 World Cups to put smiles on the faces of soccer loving fans across the length and breadth of the country.
Football, which is often christened “The Passion of the Nation”, is one particular sporting discipline that always makes all the headlines. From octogenarians to toddlers, gender and all ethnic considerations,people do dance to the tunes of the football music whether by brass band or vuvuzelas. But wait a minute, if the passion is there, then why are we failing to live up to expectations?
The answer to the question posed above is quite difficult as blames are every now and then recycled from here to there. The government, administrators, coaches and players alike are sometimes cursed and insults hurled at them for poor results recorded during matches. Knights of the whistle are also not left off the hook as they are verbally and physically abused depending on the situation or the outcome of events.
The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), the world's football governing body, strictly despises government’s interference in football but in our part of the world, it’s always difficult to wean football off the government. The lack of adequate sponsorship for the game has been a major setback and so, governments from time to time pump money for the building of infrastructure, for teams in distress and the provision of certain basic facilities for the various national and local teams.
As a result of these developments, governments feel it is in their rights to meddle or if you like have a say in the affairs of sports which most of the times is unnecessary and unwarranted.
The attitude of some soccer administrators also leaves much to be desired. They take rash decisions with impunity which often bring the game into disrepute. Financial malfeasance and other dubious acts also go a long way to affect the game. It is public knowledge that some officials allegedly are accompanied by their concubines, relations and close associates using state resources during tournaments.
Coaches and technical handlers have also been at the receiving end in the blame game. Some are even accused of collecting bribes from players before featuring them in matches. Their tactical abilities are therefore questioned if their teams suffer defeat. It is in this vein that pundits often clamour for coaches who are well qualified to take up challenges in their chosen fields.
Football players are also blameworthy to a larger extent. At club level, mediocre players are often contracted as a result of the fact that the few good ones hurriedly jump into the train of the exodus bandwagon to seek for greener pastures. They are bundled into countries like Iran, India, China, Gabon, and other countries whose leagues are not recognized let alone be competitive.
At the national team level, there are lots of challenges to be dealt with.
Having annexed the Africa Cup of Nations for four times, the Black Stars have in no small way contributed to the name of Ghana being registered on the football map. But for twenty eight (28) years now, the Stars had been sleeping until they came close to it in Senegal 1992 and lately in Angola 2010 where they finished as runners-up. During the CAN 2008 hosted by Ghana, “The Host and Win” chorus that engulfed the entire nation was made to slip through our fingers as the Stars could not live up to their billing by placing a distant third (3rd) much to the chagrin of supporters.
The current crop of players have demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that they are committed to the course of Ghana and so the authorities must also put their acts together and not engage in any nefarious activities that might jeopardize the fortunes of the team.
The national Olympic team-The Black Meteors, made international headlines as being the first African team to grab a bronze medal at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Since then, the team hasn’t been able to make any meaningful impact on any stage. However, we can no more bask in this glory anymore as this achievement has been improved upon by Nigeria in Atlanta 1996 and Cameroun in Sydney 2000 where they both won gold.
The national Under-20 team, the Back Satellites has also not faired too badly in terms of achievements and the winning of laurels for mother Ghana. They have won the African title thrice in 1993, 1999 and 2009. Again, they placed second in 2001, third in 1991 and a respectable fourth in 1997.
They have been second twice in the world edition in 1993 and 2001 and again placed fourth in 1997 in Malaysia.
However, they took the entire world by storm in 2009 when they won the first African Under-20 tournament in Egypt. Of course, Dominic Adiyiah stole the show when he grabbed the golden shoe and the golden ball awards. Since these category of players are relatively young physically and psychologically, they must be nurtured properly to serve as a breeding ground for the Black Meteors and the Black Stars respectively.
The “twinkle twinkle” little stars is another name for the Black Starlets and most Ghanaians look up to them with a sense of pride and enthusiasm. They conquered Africa in 1995 and 1999, placed second in 2005, third in 1997 and 2007. They took centre stage in juvenile football in the world in 1991, winning gold in the process with Nii Odartey-Lamptey grabbing the golden ball award. They repeated the dose in Equador 1995 with exciting and dazzling football to the amazement of all. On two occasions (1993 and 1997), they placed second with “Darling Boy” Daniel Addo picking the golden ball award in Japan 1993. The “little stars” consoled Ghanaians with a third place at New Zealand 2001 with Ishmael Addo annexing the golden shoe award with some spectacular goals.
It is a fact that we have failed as a nation to develop our youngsters into world class footballers as pertains in South America and Europe. When Starlets like Nii Odartey-Lamptey, Daniel Addo, Ishmael Addo and the likes were crowned best footballers and goal kings in their respective age competitions, they played alongside the Adrianos, the Fabregas’, the Messis and the Ronaldinhos. Yet, as these foreigners blossomed into fine and world class players, ours lost their form in a whirlwind fashion. This is a very serious case that we must find an antidote to as far as player development is concerned. Fact is, if our junior internationals have managed to conquer the world in the age competitions, why can’t they do it for the senior national team?
Sadly enough, even though the various women teams have managed to qualify to the Africa and world championships, they have failed to live up to expectations. Something must therefore be done to “right the wrongs” in the women’s category.
As a nation, we need to delve deep into our football and find out exactly what is dragging us back. Ghana is too big a soccer loving nation to be struggling with the minnows.
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