In 1984, when Cameroon won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time , Ghana were already four time champions and had won the original cup for keeps in 1978.  It was however becoming clear that Ghana were fast losing her shine as Cameroun dominated the African soccer scene with impressive shows in the World Cup of 1982, 1986 and 1990.

When Cameroon was hailed as the best African football nation the world had seen in Italia 1990 World Cup, their talisman Roger Milla shocked the pundits with a prediction that the best was yet to come and the world should wait for the Black Stars of Ghana the day they storm the World Cup. Unfortunately, it took 16 years for Roger Milla’s assertion to be put to test.

It was not a futile wait because when Ghana made her debut in the World Cup in Germany 2006, they did not disappoint. As if the whole of Africa had been waiting for the shining stars of African football, it was only Ghana that managed to survive the first round. Cameroon and Senegal that had once reached the quarter finals, failed to shine this time. Even though Ghana was mauled by Brazil in the second round their total performance in the World Cup was regarded as encouraging with future prospects.

It is therefore not surprising that the Stars have once again lifted the flag of Africa in South Africa 2010.  They may have been lucky in sailing through the last 16 with two penalty goals in three matches that fetched four points to win them second spot. But the 2-1 victory over the USA that saw them in the quarter finals for the first time can honestly be said to have been achieved through sweat and toil.

This quarter final berth against Uruguay on Friday equals the record set by Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 but the difference once again is that Ghana is the sole survivor from Africa which makes the prediction of Roger Milla so relevant here. I believe it is the wish of the rest of Africa to see Ghana progress further in South Africa 2010 so that history would say when the FIFA World Cup was held in Africa for the first time an African country nearly won the cup.
And when such a story is told the name of rising star Dede Ayew will stand out as the chip off the old block who immortalized the name of his illustrious father, football legend Abedi Pele.

Dede Ayew and John Paintsil

From the thrilling first two second round matches played so far between Uruguay and South Korea and Ghana versus USA we should all expect a lot of fireworks in the remaining fixtures. As I keep on saying, Africa is a continent of surprises and South Africa 2010 will continue to provide surprises till the final on July 11.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.