Menkah Jacob, Chief editor for mynewsanchor.com delves into Ghana’s alacrity as She inches closer to a Mundial filled with euphoria – pulses of the nation perfuse with nothing but hope stemming from past glories. Can Ghana reecho the sound of a football nation?
An enviable history is set to be made, as Ghana makes its fifth appearance on a stage where the world converge for the most popular sports, scheduled to create an avenue for stars to be birthed, some nations rekindle their lost glory as faiths are determined by competence not a charade of hope which has no foundation in today’s modern football.
From the opening fixture scheduled to take place in the world’s most iconic stadium, Estadio Azteca to AT&T stadium in Arlington Dallas – three nations, United States of America, Canada and Mexico are set to serve humanity, churn out mammoth impressive show piece of quality football in all 104 games amongst 48 qualified nations.
Today, as football matches on to embrace science, modern football transcends beyond 90-minutes of football, the game now defies the odds of individual brilliance, it relies on teamwork, technical staff, medical staff and other external factors which culminates into yielding anticipated results for football teams across the world.
Brief recap on Ghana’s journey to qualifying to the World Cup:
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) seeded Ghana with five other African nations, that is, Madagascar, Mali, Comoros, Central African Republic, and Chad to form Group I – after double-header fixtures among all the six seeded nations, Ghana amassed 25 points, securing eight wins, one draw and one loss. Per the rules of qualification, Ghana ended the qualification series with the most points, hence attaining the summit of Group I.
Ghana’s automatic qualification to the Mundial was seemingly characterized by a dosage of pain to the Ghanaian populace as they faced an unwarranted embarrassment of failing to book a qualification slot to the African Cup of Nation (AFCON) – a continental show piece, which seemed like the birth rights of Ghana as a footballing giant on the continent.
Effects of Ghana not qualifying to the AFCON
In Ghana’s quest to reaffirm her dominance on the African continent after failing to make any significant in the last two previous AFCONs, under the auspices of Coach Otto Addo, the country failed to edge pass Angola, Sudan, and Niger – completely shutting Ghana’s faith in booking a qualification spot in the just gone by AFCON hosted by Morocco and won by Senegal.
However, Ghana’s ineptitude to go phut presented severe punishment, triggering the push button in every well meaning Ghanaian except the administrators of Ghana’s football – specifically, Ghana Football Association who on behalf of the government have the mandate to make appoints of all the heads of every national football team.
Arguments being made by GFA officials including the president of the federation seeks to suggest that, Coach Otto Addo’s failure to qualify for the AFCON has been trumped-up which further suggest that, the Ghana Black Stars is in the best technical handlers.
The question now pops-up, why coach Otto Addo? For a coach to deny a footballing nation such as Ghana an opportunity to make an appearance at the AFCON on highlights the bad governing structure and the plummet of Ghana’s football standards. In this vein, Ghana was averted a gigantic opportunity to utilize the AFCON to properly assessed the senior team plus, the avenue to build team bonding and chemistry which was one aspect missed by the team.
What next for Ghana?
As Ghana preps into the much anticipated FIFA World Cup, Ghana Football Association in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Recreation have exhibited their clear path to aiding the team prior to the tournament, with four highly competitive games, that is, Ghana against Germany, Austria, Mexico and Wales.
Certainly, these friendlies games are deemed as preparation games for Ghana however, is Ghana fit to compete at the highest level? Can Ghana assess it team holistically with these games? Should Coach Otto Addo be tested with the forthcoming games? In no hesitation, these question would be answered once the friendly games with these four nations are sorted out.
In conclusion, Ghana have an iota of opportunity to make an impact at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but then, as a nation, relying on the individual skillset and quality of a players is obviously not enough to clutch a big win at the world stage hence, no stone should be left unturned before the referee whistle for the start of the games.