Black Stars, please keep the hope alive
The cry for the break of the 35-year old jinx is loudest and perhaps those who have never seen the Africa Nations Cup arrive in Ghana are actually getting jittery over the competition going on in Gabon.
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Surely, the most dangerous admonition one could give to a driver climbing a steep cliff is to make a U-turn. Every good driver would remain in the top gear and press the accelerator paddle until the mountain is conquered.
Indeed, everybody engaged in any game strives to improve as the event progresses and believe it or not, that is where our senior national team, the Black Stars find themselves now in the current AFCON in Gabon.
We must thank our stars that the "one goal project" very well associated with the team and well remembered during their days in Mongomo in Equatorial Guinea in their Group C "wahala" in 2015, has not died down.
It will be recalled that all that the Stars needed was to take an early lead, and keep it intact with some hard defensive play till the last whistle, and it worked like magic. This 2017 edition of the competition is going the same way at the pleasure of both home fans and fans on the spot, and it is gratifying that after just two goals in two matches against Uganda and Mali, the dream of qualifying for the quarter-final berth has been realised.
In other words, the third match against mighty Pharaohs of Egypt is a matter of formality, with the result only ensuring which side to meet in the Group C jigsaw where Congo DR and Cote d'Ivoire are in contention and 'comfortable lead'.
Honestly, the mountain had been conquered, but it was dangerous to release the leg from the accelerator or for that matter, throw caution to the wind and allow complacency to overtake our mindset. So the "one goal project" had to be kept alive, if we find the opposition unyielding as we are seeing now.
Fortunately, the Black Stars have on several occasions tested their strength with the Egyptians and have passed with distinction, with perhaps one major dent in their recent 0 - 2 defeat in Alexandria in the World Cup qualifiers.
In fact, we were all traumatised at the seemingly poor preparation of the Stars and the topic in town was lack of strong opposition in their trials as compared to others who travelled far and wide to meet tougher teams outside the continent.
But the assurance from their Israeli trainer, Avram Grant, was that we should keep our fingers crossed as we picked our opponents one after the other. Yes we had uneasy tasks against Uganda and Mali, but secured our six points and a clear qualification for harder problems coming up.
If anything, we acknowledged the Black Stars strategy in the first two matches, and even though they worked to the letter, the match against Mali whose aggressive style and gargantuan stature earlier scared the seven-time champions, Egypt and their forces and for that adopted the "one touch" passes to baffle them, it was obvious the battle would grow more intensive as we went ahead.
Critics rightly say the Black Stars are slow starters with the strategy to improve when the grounds got hotter, this time round the assurance is brighter whether the coming opponents would have studied the shrewed strategy or not.
Really, looking back at the past three recent quarter-finals in which the Black Stars excelled, in 2012, 2013 and 2015 in the Equatorial Guinea/Gabon, South Africa and back to Equatorial Guinea respectively, we find the ease with which they secured their tickets to the semis and ask ourselves whether the same pattern would be followed this time.
At the same quarter-finals in 2012, the Stars drove past Tunisia with 2 - 1 scoreline, against Cape Verde in 2013, they made it 2 - 0 and in 2015 it was 3 - 0 against Guinea. These were notable progressive scores.
However, progressive achievements were the ultimate was not achieved, and today citizens of this country are looking forward to the breaking of that iron-clad cage in which Ghana has been tightened for over 35 years.
Just imagine that at the 13th edition of the competition, the Black Stars had won four of the honours, but after 18 more such challenges we have found ourselves wanting without any answer to the riddle.
During all those days, we had the privilege of engaging top class coaches to ensure success, but despite that and all the wonderful material we had, the mystery has not been unraveled. Amazing!
Avram Grant has accepted the challenge which in short, said: "Go and bring the cup", and accepting the challenge, the expectation is that the Black Stars would not only play above all previous standards, but then they must make sure this is their era with some of their members possibly retiring after this assignment.
For sure, the material we have is the best we can assemble from all corners of the world and it is up to them to work hardest to justify the huge money the nation spends on them.
So while waiting for the delivery of the cup, it is believed Avram Grant would do all he can to avoid fielding half-fit players like we saw against Mali when some were having problems with malaria and others with hidden injuries coming from their clubs.
We will not give in to excuses of that sort, and as everyone is saying, 35 years is enough. The coach's contract ends with AFCON 2017, and the question being asked is whether he will end it all with the Africa Cup being handed to President Akufo Addo at the Flagstaff House.
This challenge calls for better performance, as the other countries are flying high with greater determination.
For sure, countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Congo DR, Cote d'Ivoire and Tunisia should be closely watched. Right now, every citizen of this land is gearing up for an extraordinary celebration that the lifting of the cup will bring. We pray for that day as we are keeping the hope alive. Good luck!
