Black Stars: The Ailing African Soccer Giant

Aug 10, 2002

September 9BEING four-time record winners of the continent’s biggest show piece is what has made the Black Stars a perennial giant of African football.

By Mark NamanyaUganda vs GhanaSeptember 9BEING four-time record winners of the continent’s biggest show piece is what has made the Black Stars a perennial giant of African football.But not since 1982, when the west Africans edged Libya 7-6 in a penalty shoot out, have they bettered that illustrious feat.It is no hidden fact that the game of football in Ghana, Uganda’s key opponents in the 2004 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, has suffered a bruising depreciation since the early 1990’s; A timely remainder that an array of imperious talent is no substitute for disorganisation.Most Ugandans argue the reason soccer has nosedived is lack of professionals. But Ghana natives often rue their under-utilised professional stars in European top leagues, a problem worsened by the nation’s economic situation.Internal wrangling, financial woes, club sentiments and consequently lack of motivation have combined to make the former giants an ailing continental power .Talented midfielder Emmanuel Duah of Unaio Leira in Portugal has often turned a deaf ear to his country when his services are called for in crucial games.Forward Charles Akunnor of VFL Wolfsburg was ignored in the Nations Cup but still remains a prominent figure in the Bundesliga. Now an assistant captain at Wolfsburg, Akunnor is hoping for another call up.The abundance of talent, home and away, has always been at its extreme and new coach Millan Zivadinovic earning $8,000 is most aware. But with prior knowledge on the task ahead of him, Zivadinovic cautioned his team arguing that rather than build a team of egoistic superstars, he prefers to struggle with mediocre committed talent.Bayern Munich’s Samuel Kuffour, one of the world’s finest central defenders, has hardly transferred his commanding club form into the yellow jersey and his earlier disgrace may not endear him to Zivadinovic.Kuffour was infamously sent away from the team’s camp at the Nations Cup in Mali early this year.Such is the crisis in Ghana that home-based defenders Owusu Ansah Princeton and Mireku Amankwah can be chosen ahead of professionals like Kuffour and Fernebache’s Samuel Johnson.The ever volatile former Everton midfielder Alex Nyarko, now at PSG, is an example of the player, the disciplinarian Zivadinovic wants to avoid.Mohammed Gargo and Stephen Appiah, at Serie A’s Udinese and Parma respectively, have stayed away due to a combination of reluctance from the then coach Fred Osam Duodo and the players’ disinterest.The past few years have seen a number of tacticians at the helm come and go, including Italian Guiseppe Dossena and Duodu.That said, only an armed to teeth Cranes will earn maximum points from Ghana.What ever the circumstances, Ghana will always be Ghana.Coach Millan Zivadinovic will almost certainly look forward to Isaac Boakye’s magic for glory.The young striker was a revelation in Mali 2002 and like Burkina Faso discovered, the Obuasi Goldfields marksman has the instincts of a predator — Batabaire and company need to watch.Ghana need not to play something out of the ordinary to beat Uganda, but in a year dominated by football shocks, Cranes coach Paul Hasule will fancy his chances.Ends

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