My verdict on the Black Stars woeful performance against Libya in the World Cup/ African Cup qualifying match in Tripoli at the weekend is that Canadian journalist Declan Hill has been able to unsettle the Black Stars with his published allegations of match fixing involving Ghana’s senior national football team.

The Black Stars were lucky to have lost the margin by the slim margin of one goal .to nothing It could have been wider if the Libyans had summoned enough courage to pile on the pressure.. The Stars could not fly. They were a confused band of footballers on the pitch behaving like blind men trapped in the midst of heavy traffic. Team work was nil. Passes went astray and you began to wonder whether the players trusted each other.

It was the poorest display by the Black Stars since that ignominious defeat by Saudi Arabia in a friendly last year. That disgraceful defeat was attributed to flight fatigue but one cannot give the same excuse for that lackluster show against Libya. The team was in such complete shambles that a colleague who believes in mysticism phoned to say he believed the Black Stars were under some spell. Apart from goalkeeper Richard Kingson,the rest appeared to have suddenly lost their appetite for football, wonders will never end.

I am tempted to agree with Ghana’s most respected football analyst Joe de Graft who said in a radio discussion that he felt the Black Stars did not want to win the match. I regard this as serious observation and it would be in the national interest if a probe is set up to unravel this mysterious and sudden loss in form of the entire Black Stars team under a new Serbian coach.

A rapid response is needed because having lost the top spot the Black Stars would have to gather all forces to win the last qualifying match against Lesotho at home to be counted among the eight best runners and qualify for the second group stage. It is at this second group stage where the five group winners will go to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa and the top three in each group to the 2010 Cup of Nations in Angola.

Ghanaian football fans have not forgotten that the Football Association asked for extension of stay in office till 2011 to enable Ghana benefit from the experience gained and take Ghana to the 2010 World Cup.