Five reasons why Ghana haven’t a fifth AFCON title

When Ghana won the last of its four Nations Cup titles, its current Head-of-state had only just earned his first degree from the University of Ghana. That was in 1982 and, some 32 years later, trophy No.5 has still not landed in the cabinet.

Why?

Well, do consider the probable reasons suggested below...

Loss Of Focus

After winning four Nations Cup trophies - the first country to do so - it stands to reason that, after 1982, Ghana's priorities underwent a considerable shift. Conquering Africa wasn't the primary goal anymore; grabbing that elusive World Cup ticket was. Needless to say, the latter wasn't even achieved until sometime in the 21st century.

Changing Trends

The earlier years of the Nations Cup saw little competition for honours. With largely the very same opponents challenging at almost every other edition, several countries were able to win it on multiple occasions. By 1990, Ghana, for one, had won it four times. Egypt were on three, while Cameroon and DR Congo had claimed two apiece.

These days, it's all not so straightforward. Only Nigeria (2), Cameroon (2), and Egypt (3) have been victorious more than once since Senegal '92. 'Minnows' Zambia and South Africa (the latter debutants when they won it in 1996) have triumphed, while hitherto unfancied Burkina Faso and Senegal have also reached finals. Even in qualification, the mighty Pharaohs have been outmuscled by weaker opposition for three consecutive tournaments, with eight-time finalists Nigeria missing out on two of the latest three (next year's inclusive).

Ghana, you'd understand, hasn't stood much of a chance in that period.

Lowered Standards

The beginning of Ghana's barren spell appears to have coincided with what many might regard as the dawn of the so-called professional era. The work ethic and attitudes of the modern-day footballer and the many complex strings attached to his career has had a rather debilitating effect on the Black Stars as a collective. Factionalism, many believe, reigned in the team's ranks during the nineties, while commitment levels have also drastically reduced since Ghana's last conquest. A love of country over self guided the heroes of yesteryear; the John Boyes of today subscribe to the very opposite theory (refer to the Brazil 2014 diaries for proof). Without proper motives, the Stars have groped around in vain as though stricken with blindness.

Instability

Between 1982 and now, the Stars have had about 25 head coaches (excluding interims), compared to the seven who reigned from 1963 (the year of Ghana's Afcon bow, a winning one) to the occasion of our most recent conquest. The situation is hardly ideal, especially given that Ghana has not maintained any of those trainers for successive Nations Cup campaigns. Sometimes a team needs stability - the kind the likes of Charles Kumi Gyamfi (mastermind of three of four of Ghana's conquests) offered - to make any headway. Put simply, Ghana has lacked that.

Jinxed?

For the superstitious, though, Ghana's failure to win a Nations Cup in the last 32/33 years has had precious little to do with any of the aforementioned reasons. To these - notably ex-international Osei Kofi who won the competition himself in 1965 - the whole drought is the consequence of a jinx the country has been accursed with for neglecting the members of its successful Afcon squads, most of whom have since retired in abject penury and remain thoroughly dissatisfied with receiving so little remuneration for the selfless efforts they rendered to the nation years ago. That Ghana has suffered heartbreaking failure on the occasions it has come closest to claiming a fifth crown - memorably a loss to Cote d'Ivoire via a marathon penalty shootout in 1992 as well as 2010's capitulation to Egyptian Nagy Gedo's late goal in Angola - seems to add weight to such an argument. If true, though, the government's handsome compensation paid to these aggrieved heroes earlier this year should have a positive telling effect on the Stars' campaign in Equatorial Guinea in 2015. Or maybe not.