Ghana’s troubled Black Stars need to rediscover the ethos of collective strength and organization if they are to succeed at the Afcon 2015. To do that, they have to recapture the spirit of the 2010 team that catapulted Ghana to extraordinary heights.
That team was bereft of its main stars and replete with Afcon debutants. 13 members of the squad were making their first appearance at the African Cup and included 6 graduates from Ghana winning team at the 2009 world U-20 Championships. Captain Stephen Appiah was out through injury, Sulley Muntari was omitted for disciplinary reasons and although Essien was included, he returned to Chelsea after just one match due to injury.
But what Milovan Rajevac’s team lacked in names they made up for in team spirit and robust organisation. The result was a stunning run to the final, claiming the scalps of host Angola and Nigeria before losing the decider to Egypt. That team ethic will later be carried on to the World in South Africa were Ghana was within a whisker of being the first African team at the semi finals.
The Black Stars teams assembled since that gutsy run of 2010 have lacked the soul and the steel of 2010. Perhaps, it is because since then Ghana has gone into every Afcon as a strong favourite. No longer underdogs, the team has however choked at successive competitions.
At the 2012 and 2013 Afcons, the Black Stars under Goran Stevanovic and Kwesi Appiah respectively, attempted to play a more free flowing style but suffered from a lack of organization, frailties at their rear guard and off the field controversies. In 2012 clash of egos, in-fighting and accusations of the use of Black magic in camp simmered throughout Ghana’s campaign.
Zambia did the rest in the semi-finals. In 2013, Andre Ayew’s omission for missing reporting deadline unsettled the team even before the tournament kicked off. Then the tournament itself turned out to be another fiasco, tainted by allegations that senior players smuggled women into the team hotel, which ended with defeat to a Solid Burkina Faso side.
In 2015 the Black Stars should have a more sober expectation about their chances. Ghana is not a favourite and being in the group with Algeria, Senegal and South Africa makes it even more daunting. But if the team is to win a first nations’ cup in 33 years they have to demonstrate better organization and collective strength. If for nothing at all, this has been the template for recent successes at the Afcon. It is also the set of traits that have eluded Ghana in the last two campaigns. The talents of Senegal’s current generation and more notably the Ivory Coast know the importance of these all too well.
Unsurprisingly, the last three winners of the Afcon have been teams built on collective strength rather than star power. The best of them was the Egypt side that won three titles in a row between 2006 and 2010. A formidable unit whose organization and efficiency made them almost unbeatable.
Since 1994 Nigeria consistently suffered Afcon disappointments despite the world class players assembled for every tournament. When they finally got it right Stephen Keshi forged his 2013 winners Nigeria from a hardworking unit that grew stronger with each game in their run to their 3rd title. Less fancied than previous Nigerian teams, it was quite similar to the Ghana side of 2010 in being heavy with debutants. The team they beat, Burkina Faso, also showed the collective strength better than most at that tournament.
In 2012, Zambia created their own African Cup fairy tale with their victory. Jonathan Wilson, writing for the Guardian described the Chipolopolo thus “That was a squad that included just one player, Emmanuel Mayuka, who played for a top-flight side in Europe.
Their success was rooted in humility, togetherness and organisation – and, by the end, an unstoppable sense of their own destiny. There were no stars and discipline was rigorously enforced: early in the tournament last year, the Zambia coach, Hervé Renard, sent the midfielder Clifford Mulenga home after he refused to apologise after breaking a curfew”.
New Ghana coach Avram Grant has a tricky task- build an efficient, collective winning machine out of a team reeling from the disastrous campaign that was Brazil 2014. To do this in less than 10 days is truly onerous.
By: Sammy Bartels
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