Black Stars' 9/11 Massacre: "Na Who Cause Am?"

5-0 is a bit harsh!

It is harsh, especially so, at a time the Black Stars of Ghana were soaring so high. The fact is that Ghana joined the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) in 1958 and until the Saudi Arabian debacle, had had two very bad losses. In 1993, Germany beat the Black Stars of Ghana 6-1, in what has been tagged the Bochum disaster. Then, in what has been the country’s worst defeat, Brazil beat the Black Meteors 8-2.

As painful as these defeats were, the pedigrees of these countries at the time Ghana lost to them were without question. Germany were then world Champions parading the likes of Hassler, Effenberg, among others; For Brazil, even if they are not the title holders, they can tear any team apart should they find their rhythm. They can just score at will should their strikers find their scoring boots. What makes the recent defeat so harsh is the fact this time it was Saudi Arabia—not so strong in terms of football—who beat the Black Stars at a time they are playing very well.

For the records, the Black Stars were the only African country that made it to the knockout stages in the last World Cup; they beat the Czech Republic—who were ranked 2nd in the world—in a match they so very well dominated; the Stars had lost only one match after the World Cup. Before the game against Saudi Arabia, the Stars had played eight matches recording four (4) victories against Japan (1-0), Korea (3-1), Nigeria (4-1), and Morocco (2-0); they three draws against Senegal (1-1), Austria (1-1), and Australia (1-1); and were defeated by Brazil. In fact, many soccer pundits thought the Black Stars should have won the game against Brazil even though Appiah and Essien were missing in that game.


The question many Ghanaians, and in fact, several other Africans are asking is: what happened on September 11, 2007, that made the Stars lose so badly to Saudi Arabia?


Fortunately, I did watch all these games, and, I must say that after the so-called Asian conquest, and, of course after the game against Nigeria, the Stars have played below par in all the other matches. They were very lucky to get a draw against Austria, Senegal, and Australia. Against Senegal, the Stars were outplayed in the second half, and, I thought a 1-1 draw was a bit brutal for Senegal; they (the Senegalese) deserved a better than that! I guess it was the same against Austria, and more so, against Australia. It was a bit of a surprise when the Stars won the match against Morocco because it was as if Morocco played the entire match, moving the ball around and dictating the pace of the game only for the Stars to get two half chances to convert.


Perhaps, that may have concealed the loopholes of the team, making the technical handlers and the players think that they could just walk into any game, unprepared and win. What is more, perhaps, what must have contributed to this perception was that in November, 2005—just before the World Cup—a depleted Black Stars beat the Saudis in Jeddah 3-1, in which game the Stars so much dominated. The Argentine coach of Saudi Arabia lost his job just after the game. How time changes! Welcome to the real world.


After the game, I felt so deflated; but for the fact that the team has made so much progress since the CAN 2006 disaster, I would recommend that the entire technical team be disbanded; however, that will mean starting all over, a decision that will hurt the fortunes of the team. After all, this is the second defeat after the World Cup. But, no matter how we look at it, the defeat was so embarrassing (no disrespect to the Saudis). The manner the goals came and the attitude of the team was so poor that one could not fathom what was happening on the field of play.

Some people prefer to call it a blessing in disguise, because the team was becoming overconfident; I believe that may be true but a good team is good even in defeat. That is the one bit that was missing in the game. What many people fail to realize is that the current Black Stars is so good that with very good preparation, they could beat many teams. That is where the FA and the technical handlers went wrong. They failed to prepare, and even if they did prepare, they did so poorly.


The FA was very wrong to have arranged a game three days after another game—played in France—when the team was emplaning from France to Saudi Arabia, a journey of over several thousands of miles. As to whatever monetary concern/consideration drove the FA to treat these players as if they were machines just beats my mind. Richard Kingston has indicated that they got down from the plane and moved straight to the field of play. No wonder the players looked so lethargic, finding it difficult to move and close in on their Saudi counterparts. The Stars had about three chances in the entire game, leaving the Saudis to do all the running.


The GFA and the technical handlers are responsible for this loss and they have no excuse. They should stop exploiting these players for their idiosyncratic/selfish interests because they (the players) are just human and not machines! Rushing into arranging matches will not help with the preparation of the team. The FA officials have a lot of explaining to do; the local media should subject them to rigorous questioning so they will offer explanations about this humiliation. The team has been raped! People have argued that the match was fixed; even though the manner the goals were scored may point to that I think it was purely a matter of fatigue, or, maybe, it is attributable to complacency. The former is a function of the FA’s ineptitude. Even though they have apologized, I will say, it is too late, because that is only a calculated attempt to make Ghanaians forget about their blunders.


Yes, it is a blessing in disguise if only this will make the FA learn from this, if only the players and the technical handlers will know that Ghana is beatable, and if only it will spur the team on to do its homework well and win the CAN 2008 tournament, because anything short of that will be inexcusable!

Tactics

The avid observer of the recent formation of the Black Stars will realize that the team is converging towards a new system which is a deviation from their traditional 4-4-2 system. There is nothing wrong with a coach’s decision to change tactics if he deems it fit. Unfortunately, for the coach and the team, however, this new system has not worked in all the matches in which it has been employed.


Against Morocco, it was only after the coach had converted to the conventional 4-4-2 that the Stars were saved. The fact is that considering that team has a host of midfielders with no potent striker (maybe, except Asamoah Gyan) it makes little sense for anyone to pack the midfield with five players, especially when the opponent is not that scary; this only depletes an already deficient attack. Asamoah Gyan and Matthew who have been used as sole strikers to sit on top of the attack do not command the Drogba-like physique that will torment attacks; what are we doing, here? If I say this, they tell me I am not the coach; I know, but we all want Stars to do well.

New Players

Two areas of our game that we have yet to see an improvement are the left back and right back positions. Le Roy has done very well giving the opportunity to a few other Ghanaian players to win some positions in the team. The latest to be tried on the left back position is Nana Akwasi Asare who played well in the game against Morocco, only because Muntari offered some great deal of help. However, against Saudi Arabia, he was missing. Oh, yes he also suffered from jet lag, isn’t it?

Hans Adu Sapei has been tried there and he has done very well. Hans is 30, so we might need some young blood sooner. However, my headache is the right back position which has forever been occupied by John Paintsil. I believe that if some players who are warming benches in other leagues do not cut it, John Paintsil does not, either. The earlier the coach tried other players, the better. Sometimes, I am even tempted to question why Kufuor was axed from the team, and why others who are warming benches could play but he can’t. I will not talk about Francis Dickoh, because that will be for another day.


To be honest, Coach Claude Le Roy is a coach I respect so much because he has a lot of experience in the African game. He is a man who can do the job and I believe he deserves to be given the support. What he has to realize, however, is that he took over a very good team that was enjoying a lot of glory. The team spirit of the team he inherited was unprecedented in the history of Ghana football. What we saw on Tuesday was a shame and Ghanaians deserve better!


The good news is that the game was just a friendly, even though it will badly affect the team’s next FIFA ranking, and, possibly, its seeding system for the ANC. But it was good it came before the CAN 2008 tournament so that the team can realize that it is not invincible, and that it needs a re-look at its strategy before next year. Meanwhile, I hear the team plays Ivory Coast next month. No excuses this “timeooo.” Anyway, was it by any coincidence that this disaster happened on September 11? I rest my case!


The text for this piece is set to American English.