Well, they say the end justifies the means. It was a not vintage performance by the Black Stars of Ghana in the third round AFCON 12 qualifying match against Guinea but the 1-1 draw was enough to send them into the knockout stage where they will face Tunisia on Saturday.

Having beaten Mali, the conquerors of Guinea in the second round, the Black Stars had a psychological advantage over Guinea and so when midfielder Agyeman Badu gave them the curtain raiser from a well-constructed corner kick the expectation was that the Black Stars could get a couple more goals.

But the Guineans showed why they got six goals against Botswana. They use the wings effectively and the Black Stars had to sweat to contain the slippery defence splitting incursions from the flanks.

Top marksman Abdoul Camara reminded me of his late compatriot dribbling wizard Petit Sory who stole the show in the 1970 Cup of Nations in Sudan and gave Ghana’s defence pivoted around Oliver Acquah and John Eshun plenty to worry about.

Camara’s equalizer for Guinea was typical striker’s goal, quite cheeky and there is the temptation to blame Ghanaian goalie Kwarasey for poor anticipation. The credit should go to Camara for his vision but this does not hide the fact Kwarasey appears to have aerial fragilities these days.

The knockout stage does not give room for any second guessing and Serbian Coach Goran Stevanovic should be ready to read the game well.  Ghana’s next opponents, Tunisia play like Guinea and it’s going to be tough.

Not many Ghanaian football fans are enthused about the Serbian trademark tactical play which does not appear too impressive even though you may say it produces results.

My good friend Vandidi, an ardent football analyst and historian, obviously agitated, sent me this text after the Ghana- Guinea game. “Unimpressive Milovan- like football against a 10 man Guinea. This coach promised attacking football for Ghana. Where is it?”

For starters Milovan was the Serbian who took Ghana to the last Cup of Nations in Angola and the World Cup in South Africa. Can anybody answer Vandidi’s question to Stevanovic.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Black Stars squad for 1994 Cup of Nations in Tunisia;

Edward Ansah,Simon Addo,Anthony Osei Kojo,Emmanuel Ampiah,Tony Baffoe, Agyeman Duah, Emmanuel Armah, Frempong Manso, Frank Amankwa, Bernard Whyte,Afo Dodoo, Kofi Mbeah, Abedi Pele, Yaw Acheampong, Sam Johnson, Odartey Lamptey, Alex Opoku, Anthony Yeboah, Prince Opoku, C.K Akunnor, Kwame Ayew and Laud Oscar.

This incident that happened in an All African Boxing Championships in Accra in the early sixties is still fresh in my memory.

In the two semi-finals, a Ugandan whipped his opponent so mercilessly that the Ghanaian who won the other semi-final got scared to meet him in the final and he chickened out by feigning injury.

The Ugandan therefore won the gold medal by default.

This story came to my mind when Guinea whitewashed Botswana 6-1 in the second round of the on-going AFCON 12 as a prelude to the final round match against the Black Stars on Wednesday.

I was just wondering  what was on the mind of the Black Stars as they saw Guinea completely destroy a team they struggled to beat by only a goal.

I had the feeling the players would be nervous against Mali the conquerors of Guinea but they rose to the occasion, showed a lot of courage and did it in style.  Asamoah Gyan once again proved that even at half fit he could be as trenchant as ever.

His free -kick curtain raiser came straight from the text book. As for Dede Ayew he will forever remind some of us of who saw at close quarters the exploits of his illustrious father. If they say, “a chip off the old block”, this is one.

Even though mathematically, Ghana cannot be said to have yet qualified for the knock- out stage , the team looks good enough to get at least one point in the final round match against Guinea, who I believe will also be scared about what Ghana did to their conquerors.

I don’t think even the experts regarded the Ghana , Guinea, Mali, Botswana group  as the strongest but it has turned up to be the most exciting with three teams going to the wire.

Mali is heavily tipped to collect maximum points from the whipping boys, Botswana and that makes the Ghana-Guinea fixture quite intriguing.

The mathematics will set in if all three teams tie at six points but I doubt it.  Anyway this is football where logic is on leave.

The nature of football makes it an interesting sport and it is my prayer that the match officials will continue to show the high standard we are witnessing at the tournament to make the game continue to grow.

We’ve had quite a thrilling tournament so far, so let the game play.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Jan 27th 1994: Ghana beat Guinea 2-1 in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia

The Black Stars of Ghana have no option but to shine brightly against Mali in the crucial second round match in the on-going AFCON 12.

Rated together with Ivory Coast as the pre-tournament favourites, the Stars should take inspiration from Ivory Coast’s advancement to the quarter finals following their 2-0 victory over Burkina Faso  and also live up to expectation.

The Ghana- Mali is an interesting pairing. It is so far the only fixture involving two winners in the first round. Ghana beat Botswana 1-0 and Mali also beat Guinea by the same margin.

It’s really a battle of equals but the Stars have a slight edge in terms of attacking machinery.

The preceding encounter between two first round losers, Botswana and Guinea, has its peculiar attraction and it should also be full of thrills. So far it has been an incident free tournament and the organizers can pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Jan 22nd,2000; Ghana Black Stars draw 1-1 with Cameroun in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations in Accra. Cameroun led 1-0 at half time and Kwame Ayew pulled even for Ghana in the 56th minute.

There are advantages and disadvantages in not playing qualifying matches when hosting a major football tournament like AFCON 12. The absence of tough qualifying matches might rob the host of the required scale to measure your strength.

On the other hand, the lack of exposure may prevent opponents from assessing the host’s exact strength and that enables them to take everybody by surprise.

This is exactly what is happening in Equatorial Guinea where the hosts have surprised everybody with two clear cut victories thus becoming the first to reach the quarter finals of this continental football fiesta.

Equatorial Guinea’s opening game win over Libya was regarded by some pundits as a fluke and that Libya coming from their huge political turmoil should not be regarded as any credible opposition.

But the hard fought 2-1 victory over the highly fancied Senegal boasting a number of experienced players of repute has shown to the world that a new football force is rising in the horizon.

At this juncture, mention can also be made of Zambia whose dramatic 2-2 draw with Libya has confirmed that their 2-1 victory over Senegal in the first round was quite deserving. This first drawn game in the competition that puts Zambia in pole position to reach the knockout stage, confirms my earlier assertion that the boys will be separated from the men quite early in this tournament.

With the unexpected demise of Senegal the other two so-called pre-tournament favourites’. Ghana and Ivory Coast are on notice that the going is going to be tough.

The two countries boast a cream of talented stars but were not at their peak in the first round and they would have to take a cue from Senegal’s bitter experience and up their performance in the second round matches against Mali and Burkina Faso respectively.

So far it has been a lively tournament with a lot of goals and despite the treacherous weather that destroyed the pitch in Bata, the standard of play was quite high and we expect more as the show progresses.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports

From the Archives:

Feb 6th 2000: Nigeria beat Senegal 2-1 in extra time to reach the semi-finals of the African Cup in Lagos.

It looks like the boys will be separated quite early from the men in the on-going AFCON 2012 as no points were shared at the end of the first round matches on Tuesday night. All the first eight matches ended in straight wins which is splendid.

Luckily the co-hosts, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea both made good starts to make the home fans happy so were the two so-called pre-tournament favourites, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, albeit  struggling to win narrowly.

Round two presents some tricky pairings where the co-hosts face opponents who lost in the first round meaning another defeat could ensure an early exit.  Star studded Senegal who face Equatorial Guinea would have to fight extra hard to beat an inspired home team bolstered with a one million dollar bonus for beating Libya.

Gabon also faces another first round loser, Morocco, and you can readily see that the stakes are high.

Analysts hold that Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire would have to up their output in the next round matches against Burkina Faso and Mali respectively to sustain their championship hopes. While Cote d’Ivoire managed to impressively hold the tough tackling Sudanese with a 1-0 win. Ghana somewhat lost their rhythm in the second half against Botswana after completely dominating the first session.

It could be argues that the red card shown to Ghana skipper John Mensah for a rather clumsy tackle midway through the second half shook the confidence of the Black Stars and that gave the rejuvenated Botswana side found enough courage to attack fiercely forcing goalie Kwarasey who had been on holiday to make save two sticky situations.

I am extremely delighted that the first round has been that exciting. It is hoped the second would produce even more thrills to emphasize the fact that African football is on the ascendancy and as the legendary Pele of Brazil predicted decades ago the World Cup will one day come to Africa

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Jan 24th 2000: Confederation of African Football (CAF) fines Ghana and Cameroun 2000 dollars each for violating the regulations on individual sponsors trademarks sizes allowed on the players outfit during CAF competitions.