Black Stars’ bane - Childish complacency
What an AFCON we have on our hands! Just two days before the commencement of the AFCON 2013 in South Africa, there came the sad news that the Black Stars' first opponents in their Group B campaign, Congo DR, were a bunch of confusionists with problems bordering on player bonuses and a claim that their coach, good old Claude Le Roy, former coach of the Black Stars, had threatened to quit the job.
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That story was immediately dismissed by the President of the Congo DR FA President, Omari Selemani, who said "Claude was still at post, and would be on the bench for The Leopards against their old foes, the Black Stars.”
Indeed, Claude Le Roy, a master tactician, proved a point in a masterpiece, while his counterpart he describes as bis boy, James Kwasi Appiah, had the shock of his life as his charges took a commanding two-goal lead in the Congo match in the first 50 minutes but in a childish feeling of complacency surrendered to the Congolese to claw back and cancel the lead in the end. It would have been a height of metaphysical injustice if the Congolese had ended as losers, looking at the way they took the fight to their opponents and made nonsense of the form guide, especially in the second half.
The Black Stars had earlier on proved in friendly matches that they were a side to beat, scoring seven goals against Egypt and Tunisia, and left their followers feeling swollen-headed until that Sunday afternoon when they realised that soccer had shifted from mere self-belief to real business which requires serious training for a longer time. That reality was exhibited by Congo and, later Mali in their match against Niger, also in Group B. Of course, the current competition is going on record for its scarcity of goals and victory parades.
It needed a fourth challenge to see a victor as Seydou Keita, the former Barcelona midfielder and the Mali talisman, produced that magic in the dying embers of last Sunday night's fixture against Niger. Imagine how it took the third match between the Black Stars and the Leopards of Congo DR to register the first goal of the tournament courtesy Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu who scored in the 39th minute to open the floodgates for goals.
Earlier, the opening match between hosts South Africa and Cape Verde, and Morocco against Angola which followed had both ended in barren draws. Now comes the shift to great expectations as the Black Stars come face-to-face with unpredictable Mali who at the last AFCON 2012 showed their opponents how to turn the tide. In their first group match, the Stars overran their opponents 2-0 and, when it came to the winning of bronze medals for the third position, the Eagles flew higher to hammer two goals against the Stars.
It must be noted that the mathematics in soccer will begin to manifest itself if the Black Stars fail to win their second match, and that will be terrible for Kwasi Appiah and his technical team.
The first match was to assess the heat in the competition, and believe me the lessons have been learnt by now with possible favourites like Cote d'Ivoire, Zambia, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria seeing the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This is a competition of revelations, as it has dawned on soccer gurus on the continent that there are no more minnows in the game.
Those who saw Cape Verde do battle with South Africa in the opening match were awed by the character of the players from the small lsland with a population of not more than 500,000 people who have earned a reputation as the stoppers of Cameroun in the qualifiers. Indeed, they made Issa Hayatou and his officials to shake their heads in disbelief, realising by now why teams like the Pharaohs and the Indomitable Lions could not make it to South Africa.
With only five goals scored in the first four matches of the competition as at Sunday night, the feeling was that South Africa was witnessing a different spectacle compared with their first hosting in 1996 when they recorded nine goals by the fourth match. Bafana Bafana opened the games with a 3-0 win over Cameroun and, later in the day Egypt beat Angola 2-1. The following day Zambia drew goalless with Algeria, and down the line Algeria beat Burkina Faso 2-1 to add value to the scoreline.
Against Mali the Black Stars must watch Seidu Keita and his men seriously. This is the toughest hurdle if they are not to return home and give their coach a severe headache. The Congo DR lessons are clear indications that there are a lot to grill the mind and it is for Kwasi Appiah to improve on his tactics if something great is to be achieved in our quest to break the 31-year-old jinx.