The overwhelming national support being given the junior national football team Black Starlets for their African U-17 championship match against Libya on Friday Sept 11 shows how deeply Ghana felt when the Black Stars loss to Libya in the World Cup/ Africa Cup qualifiers last week.Everybody is looking for revenge.

Ardent football fans describe the loss a catastrophe and the confirmed injury to the Black Stars talisman Michael Essien who doctors say will be out of action for several months is classified a national disaster. As the Black Stars handlers plot how to go into battle against Lesotho next month without Essien, a soothing balm would be needed from the juniors if they are able to shine in Libya.

It may be recalled that champion club Kumasi Asante Kotoko recently lost to Libyan Club Ittihad in Tripoli and another defeat at the hands of Libya, third in a row, would be too much pain for Ghana football to contain.

It is agreed that the African U-17 contest is on elimination basis and with the brilliant 3-0 advantage from the first leg in Accra , even a 2-0 defeat will see the Starlets through the next stage but veteran coach Kwasi Afranie says the battle-cry is REVENGE.

Afranie regards the trip to Libya as a duty to redeem the sinking image of Ghana football in North Africa and he promises nothing short of victory.

Black Stars Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac will surely follow the match with keen interest for he may tap a couple or two talented players who could be groomed for a probable Ghana World Cup squad in 2010. Not many people would like to put the blame on him for the Black Stars poor show in Libya. It is obvious that it is too short a time to know the players he is dealing with and he has admitted to that.

In a press interview after the match he explained that he had only two training sessions before the big game but he felt that the attitude of many of the players contributed to the poor show. Hear him" the players did not get themselves totally involved in the game. I am disappointed over the approach and attitude of some players".

I totally back the observation of the Coach and I am happy he has promised to make some changes in the team before the next game. Attitude is vital in competitive sports and the maxim that you can force a horse to a river but you can't compel it to drink is applicable here. When the players enter the field of play there is very little the coach can do about their attitude towards the match.

Some critics say the coach adopted wrong tactics but the Serbian maintains that the way the players lost 50-50 balls, especially in the midfield, was rather a matter of desire and not tactics. This seems like a direct response to comments by former Ghana international star Mohammed Polo who has described Coach Rajevac as incompetent because to him the Serbian played a defensive game for the entire duration of the game.

My verdict is that there should be no blame game at this time. The Serbian has a contract to send Ghana football to the top. To my mind there is enough time to prepare for the crucial last qualifier against Lesotho on October 12. Essien's injury could be a blessing in disguise. With sober heads another Essien could be unearthed by the time the real Essien returns to action and that would be a bonus for Ghana.

The lesson to be learnt from the Libyan defeat is that swollen headedness has no place in modern football. Indispensability should be expunged from the camp. Players must be seen to be fighting for positions and there should be no favouritism in team selection

I have a strong belief that with unity of purpose the Black Stars will end the qualifying series brilliantly like the way they started it -with that brilliant spanking of Libya at the favourite Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi. Hopefully when the roll is called for Africa's best 24 teams to fight for 2010 World Cup/Africa Cup place, the Black Stars will be seen shining in the blue skies of Africa..