Rajevac Milovan, the Serbian coach of Ghana’s national football team Black Stars, must be having sleepless nights following the Stars humiliating 4-1 defeat at the hands of Holland in a trial match on Tuesday.

With the high rating of Holland in world football, even the most optimistic Ghanaian football fanatic hardly expected a win for Ghana but the concern is the rather heavy defeat and the general output of certain usually reliable players who played well below their best. For example central defender John Mensah, affectionately called the “Rock of Gibraltar” was a pale shadow of himself, likewise winger Sulley Muntari and goalkeeper Richard Kingston who was unusually jittery in the posts.

There is a school of thought that most of the players were saving their limbs for fear of a last minute injury which could jeopardize their chances of being in South Africa for the World Cup.  This may be true but you could use the same argument for the Dutch who also did not appear to go all out but were content to practice some few tricks which worked perfectly especially the third goal which came straight from a corner kick.  No one can deny that Holland was a well knit side and you could see that they are really poised for South Africa 2010.

Even though the ordinary football fan may be extremely concerned, coaches don’t usually put too much premium in the score-lines of trial matches of this nature. The number of changes made by both sides showed that the technicians were still sorting things out. I believe Milovan has benefitted more from this exercise than his Dutch counterpart because the loopholes in the Black Stars team were so glaring that one would not need a white cane to see them.

It is hoped that in the final trial against Latvia in London on Saturday, Ghanaians would witness a much more inspiring performance. Unlike Holland, the Latvians will not be in South Africa and they would have nothing to lose if they go all out. The Black Stars should therefore expect a more robust opposition.  At this juncture, may I advise newcomer Dominic Adiyiah to watch his temperament. Many of his reactions to tackles and referee’s decisions are not sporting enough.

Meanwhile,I would like to recommend to Milovan and his players to shut their ears to all the wild discussions in the electronic media in Ghana in order to have a stable mind to pursue their goal. There is no doubt that the most vitriolic comments come from ill informed sources that threaten to undermine morale at this crucial stage to the World Cup.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports

FROM MY ARCHIVES

May 30th 2002: Cameroun’s World Cup team finally lands in Japan after a bizarre four day delay caused by an alleged dispute over bonus payments and the absence of flyover permits over Southern Asia.