Ghana’s Potentials In The Game Of Football

Unlike tennis, football may not be my favourite sport but when in 1982, my “old man”, on one of his trips to Europe, bought me an Italian national jersey with the name of Rossi written on the back, the World Cup tournament became a “must watch” game for me.
I have come to admire names in football like Rummenigge, Socrates, Campos, Maradona, Bierhoff, Klinsmann, Roberto Carlos, etc. Though I admire these great names in the game of football, I have always nurtured dreams that Ghana’s flag would one day fly among the participating countries of this great event. It was with great joy that I saw Ghana make its first entry to the games in 2006. Finally, an opportunity to admire my own instead of always admiring what belongs to others.
The modest gains chalked up by the STARS in the 2006 tournament made us proud hoping that the successive years would have seen our team preparing hard to do more in this year’s tournament hosted on our own continent. We have done our best but it was not enough to gain us a place among the best four in the world. The 2002 tournament held in South Korea and Japan saw one Asian country among the best four. The Koreans lost 3rd position to Turkey. It would not have been out of place if Ghana or another African country had made it to the Semi Finals.
What went wrong and what must be done? I have some few suggestions:
TACTICAL/TECHNICAL SKILLS:
Ghana qualified for the fourth final stage scoring 5 goals, two of which were scored through penalties. We conceded 3 goals. Brazil reached the fourth finals scoring 8 goals, conceding 2 goals. Argentina qualified scoring 10 goals , conceding 2 goals. Tactically, Ghana would have been an easy prey for these two teams should we have played them at any stage, because they’re teams capable of mounting pressure on their opponents and would require a team with the same style of play to ward off their attacks. The match with Uruguay presented an opportunity for us but we proved how technically fragile we are. We could not convert penalty into goal at a time when we needed to. The penalty shoot out was a complete fiasco. We missed three penalties and our goalkeeper, though good, could not save one. The last penalty kicked by Uruguay could have been saved if he had observed the player well. Our team must have at least 8 players well trained to shoot penalties, not just one or two. When the need arises even goalkeepers are called to kick penalties. Our defense during the game is nothing to be cherished. In all the matches they conceded too much space to the opponents thereby leaving the goalkeeper to use his instincts to save us. Corner kicks are opportunities to score goals but throughout the matches we could not convert even one into a goal.
The scheme of play(4-3-2-1) adopted by the Technical staff did not win goals but rather put untold pressure on our players. The goal scored by Prince Boateng during the Ghana- U.S. encounter was a goal scored on personal initiative and not originated by the strikers. The capacity to work the ball to the opponents side must be a concern to our technical staff. The Stars had the enthusiasm but they embarked on the journey without a road map or a navigator. They were like soldiers going to war with little ammunition, using up what they had to scare the opponents and then left to fight with their bare hands. If Ghana would become a giant in football, we need to devise a long term plan. I do not blame the players but our Technical Staff. They failed to give our team what was needed to move forward.
COACHING:
How long are we going to rely on foreign coaches? In the interim it may work, but in the long term it won’t help us. We need to train Ghanaian players as coaches to handle our teams at the national level, at club levels, and in our schools and Colleges. Fortunately, we have some of our players with foreign clubs. The government can sponsor ten of these players to countries like Brazil, Italy, and Germany to train as Coaches and on their return train others to handle our football clubs. These countries, including Argentina and France, are the giants in the game. They have the facilities and know what it takes to wean a child to become a good player. With the cordial relations that exist between our countries, I believe they would help us.
FINANCING THE SPORT:
The government should allow more private companies to participate (at the national level) in the administration and financing of the National Team, with the government giving technical advice. In a country like Italy, the financing of the sport is in the hands of local business tycoons and multinational companies. Though controlled to some extent by the national FIGC, the local version of the GFA in Ghana, the companies have greater say in its administration, fixing of salaries for players and the technical staff. The companies in turn use the best players in their commercial adverts to sell their products. Is it any wonder that Italy pays the highest salaries to football players in the world? World-class players like Pele, Platini, Maradona, Gullit, Ronaldo, Zidan, Seedorf, Weah, Trezequet, and our own Desailly, Abedi Pele, Appiah, Gargo, Kuffour and Muntari have made and are making their mark in Italy.
The game yields good dividends to the government, to the sponsors, and to the players. In Italy, besides the sponsors there are the gambling houses, the famous Totocalcio and Totogol (football polls), raking in millions of Euros into government coffers during league seasons. Some of these revenues go towards building ultramodern stadiums in the country and to further promote the sport and take care of sportsmen and women. It’s not good enough to ask one to die for one’s country when after his death his family is left on the streets. D.K. Poison and others have made us proud before, but what did we give them? Our sportsmen and women need to be rewarded adequately if they’re expected to deliver and help lift the nation’s flag up in the skies. The game of football is gaining popularity amongst our people and Ghana as a country stands to gain if we sit down and plan well.
By :
Obourba Asante Taado.