Ghana’s Black Stars go into tomorrow’s friendly with powerhouse Holland with vengeance on their mind in a determined bid to obliterate the heavy defeat they suffered on the same terrain prior to the last World Cup four years ago.
On that occasion, the Stars’ ego was badly punctured during a similar exercise days to the South Africa 2010 tournament, courtesy a 4-1 defeat to the eventual World Cup losing finalists, an indication of an expected grudge duel tomorrow in Rotterdam at 20.30GMT
It will be the third clash between the two great sides since the scoreless draw in Arnhem in 1998. This time different managers are in charge—Kwasi Appiah for Ghana and Luis van Gaal for The Netherlands.
In 1998, the Stars, then under Italian Giuseppe Dossena held a formidable Dutch side which featured players such as Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert to a scoreless draw in Rotterdam, while Coach Appiah was an assistant to Serbian Milovan Rajevac in the last game on June 1, 2010.
Now that he is in charge, Coach Appiah has destiny in his own hands to prove a point to the whole world that the Stars are ready to excel again in Brazil just as they did in South Africa four years ago when they earned the credential as Africa’s best team.
Playing 15-ranked Netherlands will surely be a good test for the Stars who need such tests to toughen them for the herculean Group G task against USA, Germany and Portugal.
Fortunately for the Ghanaian trainer, he will have the chance to assess his entire 26-man squad and settle on his final 23 a day after the match, unlike van Gaal who will sorely miss key midfielder Rafael van der Vaart because of a calf injury.
The Hamburg midfielder was ruled out of the World Cup as a result of the injury he sustained during the team’s training camp in Portugal, leaving Skipper Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dirk Kuyt and others to mount the Orange challenge.
Though a friendly, the outcome of the game would largely boost the morale of either side, which is why both coaches are expected to approach the big game with all seriousness.
Ghanaians, therefore, expect Coach Appiah to parade a formidable first team from a solid squad comprising Adam Kwarasey, Fatau Dauda, Daniel Opare, Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah, John Boye, Jerry Akaminko, Afriyie Acquah, Michael Essien, Andre Dede Ayew, Sulley Muntari, Kwadwo Asamoah, Christian Atsu, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Abdul Majeed Waris and skipper Asamoah Gyan.
Apart from fighting for positions, tomorrow’s game presents the Ghanaian players a good platform to give their countrymen a fair idea of what to expect from them in Brazil.
