Twenty three years ago, July 14 1985 to be precise,the Libyan national football team stormed Accra Stadium (now Ohene Djan Stadium) and held the Black Stars of Ghana to a pulsating goalless draw in the first leg qualifying series of the 1986 Mexico World Cup.

It was a nail biting affair for the thick home crowd that cheered the Black Stars to no avail.

Ghanaians were left hoping against hope that the Black Stars could turn the tables in the return leg in Libya but it was a furlong hope. On a cool evening in Benghazi, northern Libya the Black Stars were beaten 2-0 thus ending any dreams of qualifying for the Mexico finals.

Incidentally the Black Stars had sailed through the first round of the qualifying series at the expense of Cote d’Ivoire by the same score line; goalless in Abidjan on April 7 1985 and 2-0 win in Kumasi on April 25 1985.

It is this background that makes the upcoming Black Stars- Libya 2010 World Cup qualifying match at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Sunday June 1st such an exciting fixture. The Libyans would definitely hope that since history often repeats itself in football they stand a good chance of getting a good result in Ghana.But the Libyans would have to reckon that the current Black Stars team boasts of a number of crack professionals who have featured in top notch international matches and can individually change the course of a game at very short notice. Michael Essien,Sulley Muntari,John Mensah,Junior Agogo, John Paintsil and Kingsley Abayie are all top professionals in the European circuit and if they find their rhythm the Libyans would have a tough nut to crack.

Guided by history the last thing the Black Stars should do is to be complacent. The brilliant exploits in Germany 2006 World Cup should not be regarded as any licence to play the fool. When Libya eliminated Ghana from the 1986 edition of the World Cup it was to send a message that the Libyans were not pleased with the way the Black Stars snatched the 1982 African Cup of Nations from them in Tripoli.

In the same vein the Black Stars would have to win this match convincingly to send a message that their brilliant show in Germany 2006 was no fluke and that when the roll call of the best football nations in the world is called the Black Stars of Ghana would be present to respond to the call.

From all indications the Black Stars start as favourites. The football fanatics will tell you that Kumasi has established itself as a favourite venue for the Black Stars. For inexplicable reasons Kumasi fans are not as fastidious as those in Accra. Even on a bad day fans are prepared to give the players all the encouragement by cheering them.

May be this is the kind of congenial atmosphere that acting national coach Sellas Tetteh and his assistant Kwasi Appiah would need to establish the fact that Ghanaian coaches can also reach the top if given the right tools and ample room to operate.

As a side attraction supporters and the technical team of Kumasi Asante Kotoko will take a critical look at the performance of the Libyan players as most of them feature for Libyan club Ittihad that will face Asante Kotoko in the next round of the Confederations football competition.

There will be 25 other matches to be played this weekend in the World Cup qualifiers for Africa. There are 12 groups comprising four teams each. Ghana is in group five and the other group fixture is Gabon versus Lesotho

GROUP ONE Cameroun v Cape Verde; Tanzania v Mauritius

GROUP TWO; Guinea v Zimbabwe; Namibia v Kenya.

GROUP THREE; Uganda v Niger; Angola v Benin.

GROUP FOUR; Equatorial Guinea v Sierra Leone

GROUP FIVE;Ghana v Libya; Gabon v Lesotho

GROUP SIX; Senegal v Algeria; Liberia v Gambia

GROUP SEVEN Botswana v Madagascar; Cote d’Ivoire v Mozambique

GROUP EIGHT; Rwanda v Mauritania; Morocco v Ethiopia

GROUP NINE; Burundi v Seychelles; Tunisia v Burkina Faso

GROUP TEN Sudan v Chad; Mali v Congo

GROUP ELEVEN Togo v Zambia; Swaziland v Eritrea ( Eritrea withdrew)

GROUP TWELVE Malawi v Djibouti: Egypt v DR Congo