After the rousing welcome for Kwasi Appiah, what next?
As I sat on the frontline at the Stanas Pub Centre inside the SCC suburb of New Weija, watching the El-Clasico between the two top La Liga giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid, last Sunday night, one question that came to mind was whether a Ghanaian coach would be brave enough to take a decision to keep a player who was bleeding profusely from his nose on the field of play for the whole 90 minutes.
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I was also wondering whether the coach would not yield to pressure from his fans to substitute him right from the first half of the game.
In this case, I am referring to the match which saw the top player, Lionel Messi, defying the danger to his health to fight to the end and ensuring Barcelona came out victorious by scoring the winning goal with that fantastic strike. Would the whole world not congratulate the Barcelona coach Luis Enrique for keeping his faith in his best player to fight to the end and score those two goals that made him hit his 500th goal mark in the history of Barcelona?
Could our own compatriot, Coach, Kwasi Appiah, the new Black Stars coach, be bold to do what Enrique did to record that important victory without being influenced by some top men sitting in the VIP stands? These are legitimate questions that need attention on the spur of the moment, and it needs the courage and bravery of a big-time coach who can be his own man.
A very good observer of the gargantuan assignment that lie ahead of the Black Stars coach, who landed at the Kotoka International Airport last Friday to a tumultuous welcome, would have cause to ask how Coach Appiah is going to cope with his heavy load of responsibilities to satisfy the whole nation as well as those who hold him in high esteem outside.
Of course, for a whole three months, there was the demand for a local coach to take over from Avram Grant, and it was almost impossible for the selection board to ignore the public demand with a whole lot of confidence reposed in our own man.
The other day, I had cause to remind those who clamoured for Kwasi's return to advise themselves that were lots of problems that surpassed the sheer tactical ability and the winning mentality, and suggested that it was for all to read in between the lines and see what the ordinary eyes could not see. In fact, there are a lot of factors that have contributed to the Africa Nations Cup (AFCON) drought the Black Stars and the nation have suffered for the past 35 years, and it needed the magic of a fortune teller to tell what it is, and the way to combat it.
I have always believed success in life requires not only the intellectual drill and mental diligence, but most importantly, the unseen hand of the creator and the forces of nature led by the required obedience to the observance of natural laws. One of those run for success lies in the how we
Is it any wonder that while we were winning our fourth African glory, the people who live around the land of Mount Cameroun were bemoaning their fate for not being in that limelight. But believe me, our whole performance in Libya in 1982 drew its strenght from the presence of the living spirits which were watching our silver jubilee and taking off to the unknown thereafter.
The myth of the creator is so wide and mysterious that it does not lie within the purview of the ordinary man, and all he has to do is to glorify the creator and simply observe the rules and regulations of nature. Somebody would not agree that we erred in choosing a name that has no bearing on our land, and it is a pity that none of our rulers of this land has had the grip of the reality and believing in themselves to the detriment of the existing land. Our strength and physical power must in this wise not be enough for the task that lie ahead of us.
Indeed, no matter how a coach will prepare his charges, the answers to our failures will elude us unless some kind of glorification to the maker is done. Maybe as san experiment, just as we should have done on Independence day.
I have had a lot of sympathy for all the past coaches who saw such advice as mere child’s play and coming from a light mind. Before we realise that there is something mysterious in creation, and that we need to follow its rules and regulations and abide by them, we shall never stop finding ourselves in the quagmire of failures in all aspects of life, including sports. Indeed, coach Appiah must seek what has turned out to be the impediments that confront us in our effort as a nation.
One might think that we can do well despite such minor mistakes. Well, Appiah might not be brave enough to demand what the mystery powers demand, but then if we ask why almost all nations carry their natural names, the answer will be the same, and that is sheer glorification of the creator, and as the nation supports him with prayers and other methods, the demand is simple, Give your land its natural name, and all shall be easy from the coast to the northern border! Amen!