The mood of the football fraternity is that of cautious optimism for the senior national football team, Black Stars, as they begin the struggle with Benin, Mali and Sudan to determine who qualifies for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. On paper, Ghana is the only side with World Cup experience among the group and the temptation to underrate the others is very strong.Therein lies the danger and it is the hope of Ghanaians that the authorities will not take things for granted.

This group provides some interesting statistics .There are three West African countries with Sudan the odd country from the North. Three of the countries have once met each other in the World Cup qualifiers except Mali.

Ghana has had World Cup qualifying brushes with Benin and Sudan. It was on June 18 1972 that Ghana first met Benin in a World Cup qualifier for Germany ’74.Ghana trounced Benin 5-0 in front of their home crowd in Cotonou. This was a straight forward one-sided match and Ghana led 3-0 at half time through “Powerhouse” Kwasi Owusu, Abukari Gariba and Sunday Ibrahim. The two second half goals were scored by Abukari Gariba and Kwasi Owusu.

The second leg match in Kumasi on July 2 1972 ended 5-1 in favour of Ghana. Osei Kofi got two goals in the first half and Kwasi Owusu, Sunday Ibrahim and Clifford Odame (penalty) added three in the second half. The visitors had a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game. Unfortunately, Ghana could not progress any further and was stopped by Congo Kinshasa on a 4-1 aggregate.

Ghana met Sudan in the round robin qualifier for Japan/Korea 2002 World Cup and lost the first leg match in Obdurman 1-0 on Feb 27, 2001. It was an ill tempered match and the Ethiopian referee Tessena Hailimdak booked Ghana defender Samuel Kuffuor for allegedly attacking him after the match. Luckily for Ghana, FIFA later on decided not to take any disciplinary action against Kuffuor because the referee had failed to substantiate the report and the case was closed.

Ghana won the second leg 2-0 in Accra on July 15 2001, but a 3-0 defeat by Nigeria in Port Harcourt on July 29 2001 ended a disastrous World Cup campaign.It was to avoid such disaster that much effort was made to make the campaign for Germany 2006 successful with Ghana making an excellent debut. Thanks to the wizardry of Serbian Coach Ratomir Dujkovic. Ghana made a good impression in Germany.

Dujkovic is no more in charge of the national team, Black Stars but as if by design we have another Serbian coach, Milovan Rajovac directing affairs. And from all indications he seems to have the confidence of the fastidious Ghanaian football fan.

The expectation is that, he will follow the good path set by his fellow countryman and make Ghana’s presence felt in the first FIFA World Cup to be staged on the continent of Africa.

Well, the Serbian magic has worked again for the Black Stars. Coach Milovan Juvenac, like his predecessor, Ratomir Dujkovic has managed to steer the senior Ghana national football team on the path to another World Cup qualification.

The Stars beat unsung Lesotho 3-0 in the last preliminary group match at the packed to capacity Chinese-built sports stadium, in Sekondi on Saturday to merit inclusion in Africa’s top 12 teams to gain automatic qualification for the next round of the World Cup qualifiers.

The 3-0 win may be a tidy score-line all right, especially if you consider the fact the Stars started the series with a similar 3-0 defeat over Libya, but football purists will tell you that the team’s total output in Sekondi was almost colourless. There was scanty finesse in the style of play, at times unimaginative and superfluous square passes, lack of dribbling skills and woeful lack of accurate shooting in front of goal.

In sum, coach Milovan has a tough task ahead. If he needs to dive into the bottom of the sea to unearth dribblers and goal poachers he must hurry up. With this kind of static play with only a quarter of begging scoring chances being utilized, the going will definitely be tough in the final stages ,where we would have to remain in top gear to see South Africa 2010.

A top striker like Manuel Agogo gives the impression that his contribution only lasts 45 minutes. The way he misses chances is extremely discouraging and it would be in his own interest to polish his work rate and striking power. Another suggestion is that the coaches must try as much as possible to take quick decisions on substitutions. It is true that some players can make a difference even if brought in during injury time but when certain players are constantly made last minute substitutes without success then there definitely should be a change in strategy.

Now that assistant coach Kwasi Appiah appears to have settled his contractual problems with the Ghana Football Association, he should have a clear mind to help the Serbian mould the team for the arduous task ahead. What is puzzling the football public however, is why Appiah should have a one- year contract as against three for the Serbian. The assumption is that all parties are comfortable with this arrangement and what football loving Ghanaians want to see is a formidable national team that is worth paying to watch.

It was a good experiment that the Football Association decided to move the match to Sekondi for the benefit of football fans from the Western Region, known for their craze for attractive football. Incidentally the match coincided with the qualification of the most popular club in the Western Region, Sekondi Eleven Wise, to the Premier league after 10 years in the wilderness and you could see that most people were in high spirits. The fans may not have fully enjoyed the unadventurous game exhibited by the Black Stars but they filled the stadium to capacity and they deserve another show in the next round matches.

Too bad that crowd control became lax at the initial stages and there was stampede at the main gate resulting in some casualties. Let’s have tighter security next time as Tamale awaits their turn to see the Black Stars in the World Cup round two qualifying series.

The Black Stars’ Serbian Coach Milovan Rajevac is determined to emulate the fine example set by his compatriot Ratomir Dujkovic, who in 2006 took Ghana to the FIFA World Cup for the first time. Dujkovic had taken over the management of the team at a dicey time when the Black Stars were on the verge of missing the World Cup one more time, but he majestically braved the storms and saw the Black Stars through to Germany 2006 amidst nationwide applause.

Milovan Rajevac finds himself in quite a similar situation. One would even say it is a more critical situation because any slip by the Black Stars in their last qualifying match next week would see them bowing out of the World Cup qualifying series in the first round. In other words, the Stars could miss the group stages where 20 teams from Africa will battle for the five places allotted to Africa for the 2010 World Cup. They can avoid this setback only with a neat victory over Lesotho in Sekondi on Oct 11.

The Stars missed a golden opportunity to top the table when they lost to Libya after a lacklustre performance that saw them also losing the services of livewire Michael Essien through a nasty knee injury. Now Libya tops the group with 12 points, followed by Gabon and Ghana with nine points apiece, while Lesotho has no point. This means if Gabon beat Libya by even 1-0, Ghana must beat Lesotho by a margin of four or more to top the table. If Libya earns a draw and Ghana wins, the Black Stars would have to wait for FIFA to decide whether they merit to be considered among the best eight runners up to compete in the second round alongside the group winners.

It is all these permutations and the zeal to strengthen the credibility of Serbian coaches, that Black Stars coach Milovan Rajevac has mapped out a strategy for the Oct 11 showdown against whipping boys Lesotho. The coach has revamped the team for the crucial qualifier with the explanation that nobody is guaranteed a place and that some seemingly top players could be dropped for tactical reasons. He made particular mention of crowd favourite, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie of Birmingham City who is being replaced by Matthew Amoah, who plays for Dutch Club NEC Breda.

Other new call ups for the Lesotho match include Prince Tagoe of Al-Ittifaq, Saudi Arabia and Liberty Professionals duo of Yaw Antwi and Daniel Yeboah. Conspicuously missing is midfielder Laryea Kingston on suspension with two yellow cards.

The Black Stars Full Squad

Goalkeepers:

Richard Kingston (Wigan Athletic, England)

George Owu (El Masry, Egypt)

William Amamoo (Etasellat, Egypt)

Defenders:

John Paintsil, (Fulham,England)

Harrison Afful (Gomoa Feyenoord, Ghana)

Samuel Inkoom(Asante Kotoko,Ghana)

John Boye(Stade Rennes, France)

David Addy(RandersFC, Denmark)

John Mensah(Olympique Lyon, France)

Eric Addo(PSV Eindhoven, Holland)

Midfielders:

Daniel Yeboah(Liberty Professionals, Ghana)

Sulley Muntari(Inter Milan, Italy)

Anthony Annan(Rosenberg, Norway)

Haminu Dramani(Locomotive Moscow, Russia)

Moussa Narry(Auxerre, France)

Stephen Appiah(unattached)

Agyeman Badu (Berekum Arsenals, Ghana).

Strikers:

Junior Agogo (Zamalek, Egypt)

Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda, Holland)

Yaw Antwi(Liberty Professionals, Ghana)

Eric Bekoe(Asante Kotoko, Ghana)

Prince Tagoe (Al-Ittifaq, Saudi Arabia)

This is a strong squad in all respects and all things being equal a winnable team could be picked to deliver the goods.

Coach Rajevac had a rather traumatic experience in his first competitive match in charge of the Black Stars which they lost against Libya and his interesting comments were that he was surprised to see his team play as if they did not want to score. After nearly three months in the saddle, he is now saying with some amount of confidence that “if the players do as I say and if we all work together as a team then we have an excellent chance of making it to Angola and South Africa”.

There is no doubt that the Black Stars would not like their World Cup participation be seen as a nine- day wonder and that they would go all out and score a convincing win over Lesotho next Saturday at the newly built Sekondi Sports Stadium in the Western Region.

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.

Even though the senior Ghana national football team Black Stars avenged the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Gabon with a similar scoreline in the World Cup/ Africa Cup qualifying match in Accra on Sunday not many people were impressed with the over all output of the team.

The packed Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra cheered the Black Stars like mad and even though the victory has moved Ghana back to the top of the group with superior goal advantage over Libya the verdict is that the Black Stars failed to sparkle and threw away countless scoring chances some seemingly easier to score than to miss. This is in sharp contrast to the sweet flowing stuff they displayed in the recent CAN 2008.

There appeared to be too much individualist play and team work was practically nil. Top striker Junior Agogo was well below his normal form. Even though he consistently harassed the not too stable Gabonese defence he at times appeared surprisingly absent-minded and let so many good passes from striking partner and first goal scorer Prince Tagoe go waste. No wonder a group of fans were heard in the stands asking for the recall of Asamoah Gyan who voluntarily quit the Black Stars under pressure from insulting fans who disliked his wasteful scoring habit at the 2008 Cup of Nations.

English premier league stalwarts Michael Essien of Chelsea and Portmouth’s Sulley Muntari the kingpins of the team looked match weary and could hardly put up their best even though Sulley managed to get the second goal for Ghana in the drab second half.

In terms of team work Gabon were definitely ahead of the Black Stars and it is to the credit of skipper John Mensah ably assisted by Issah Ahmed and my man of the match Harrison Afful who neutralised the spasmodic piercing attacks of the Gabonese.

There is a school of thought that believes that the marathon four matches in four weeks might have taken a toll on the stamina of the players but some technical people warn that some of the players might be ageing and a back up of youngsters must be groomed to fill the gaps in the team for us to have a real solid team with a realistic chance of reaching Angola and South Africa in 2010.

Luckily the qualifying series take a break to make way for the Beijing Olympiad. The series will resume in September and the expectation is that the Football Association will use this period to tidy up the technical bench. It has been made official that Sellas Tetteh was only assigned the first four matches in the series. He has managed to win three out of four matches which is not bad for starters but Angola and South Africa are miles away and the experiments would have to stop somewhere along the line. The football administrators would have to take the bull by the horn and get going so that when the roll call of outstanding football nations is made in 2010 the red, yellow and green flag of Ghana with the black star in the centre will be there flying at full mast.