I have on several occasions referred to a famous quotation by my late secondary school headmaster C.J.Bannerman of blessed memory that says “were teachers’ magicians no pupils would ever fail examinations but where native intelligence is lacking even the gods are powerless”. I would like to paraphrase it to read; “were coaches magicians, no teams would ever lose matches but where the players lack commitment even the greatest coach cannot deliver”.

I am submitting here and now that the trump card of the current senior national football team of Ghana, the Black Stars is their abundant commitment. Each player is fulfilling his role so well that the work of coach Rajevac and his assistant Kwasi Appiah has been made easy. It is just like a school teacher seeing his students pass exams creditably; he gets a real sense of satisfaction. Congratulation to this new generation of the Black Stars

As a long standing sports journalist, I have over the years had the privilege of working closely with famous coaches like Karl Weigang, Marotske, Burhard Ziese, C.K. Gyamfi, Ben Kwofie , Osam Duodu, Sunday Ibrahim, Kwasi Afranie and Sam Arday who have all handled the Black Stars one time or the other and I can say with some amount of authority that if players put it into practice what they are taught in training, football would never be a boring spectator sport no matter the final result of a game.

Unfortunately, perhaps by a combination of stage fright and lack of commitment the attitude of some players on the field of play make you wonder why they chose to become footballers. They forget that it is a tough sport and you can only reach the top through hard work and dedication.

Luckily, Serbian coach Rajevan and his able assistant have been able to assemble a Black Stars squad who don’t appear to be distracted by fame or money and are prepared to fight for honours. The future really looks bright for these young men. To score three straight wins in such an important tournament like the World Cup/ Africa Cup qualifying series is a marvelous achievement. I doff my hat to both the players and officials. This is what I call team work at its best.

In my forty years plus writing sports, I have seen Aggrey Fynn lead the Black Stars to win the Africa Cup for the first time in 1963; I was around when Addo Odametey led the Black Stars to retain the Africa Cup in Tunis two years later and I was right in the thick of the Accra Stadium crowd in 1978 that saw Awuley Quaye lifted the original Africa Cup for Ghana for keeps. I was also in Libya to see Emmanuel Quarshie leading teenagers like Opoku Nti, John Essien(zion train), Abedi Pele & co to win the Africa Cup for the then unprecedented fourth time.

I nearly forgot to recall that I was in Sudan in 1970 when John Eshun led giants like Robert Mensah, Oliver Acquah, Kwasi Owusu and Malik Jabir to reach the Africa Cup final only to be robbed by an overenthusiastic referee. To add confusion to disbelief, the Black Stars were deported 24 hours after the game by military leader General Nimeiry. But that is another story. My verdict is that the current Black Stars can match the fighting spirit and commitment of their illustrious predecessors if they maintain their poise and I have no reason to doubt their ability to shine when it matters most. Kudos! Boys. You have really shamed the pessimists who doubted your credentials to move Ghana football forward.

A thin 1-0 win at home and two sparkling away wins via two goals apiece is a record every football manager should be proud of. To recap, Ghana beat Benin 1-0 in Kumasi thanks to Prince Tagoe’s early strike, defeated Mali 2-0 in Bamako through Kwadwo Asamoah and Mathew Amoah and followed it up with another 2-0 win over Sudan in Omdurman last Saturday, Amoah getting both goals.

Most observers feel the Stars could have won the first home more comfortably if they had not been unduly distracted by a pre-match row over payment of bonuses and allowances. Ghana had taken a moral boosting early goal and the fans naturally expected a goal fest that never came. It is however a healthy sign of true sportsmanship that they quickly forgot the dressing room fracas and won their next two away matches in style with two unanswered goals on each occasion.

Now it is a hundred percent record at the end of the first round; three wins in three matches. The second round begins on September 5th with the Black Stars hosting Sudan. There is an away encounter against Benin in Cotonou on Oct 10 with the last match at home against Mali. It will be interesting to see the struggle for the first team to halt the Black Stars forward march to South Africa and Angola 2010. You can therefore anticipate a lot of thrills.

With nine points in the bag, Black Stars Serbian Coach Milovan Rejavec can have some sound sleep unlike his countryman Kosta Papic who is having things tough with premier league leaders Accra Hearts of Oak. The leaders established such a clear lead at the end of the first round that it appeared to be a one horse race but they have suddenly slumped terribly in the second round and the massive lead has been cut to five points with seven more games to do. Management is not enthused and the Serbian has been sacked.

As Papic leaves for home, his prayer would be that Rajevac would learn a lesson from his plight and tighten the Black Stars hold on top of the table. It is a sad story for Serbian Papic. He blames his players for refusing to play to instructions. Watch his lips, ”My players are disappointing .They are not ready to stick to the game plan and I am surprised at their behaviour on the field”. I don’t expect the other Serbian coach Rajevac of the Black Stars fame to make such remarks about his team.

This is the tale of two Serbian coaches which makes the sporting life quite interesting. Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.