Oh, Ghana Football - Things Not Getting Any Better

A whole lot of people are probably expecting me to write about Mourinho's departure; I'm sorry because you'll be disappointed. Better still let me say something very small about the “Special One”. Though I don't really like him, he is a fantastic coach. He transformed Chelsea into a strong force but his boss just wanted more. He wanted Chelsea to be as entertaining in their play as the “Wenger School Boys” Arsenal. On Sky Sports last Sunday morning, there were reports that Roman Abramovich has offered Avram Grant £100m to pursue Ronaldinho and Kaka …..Ha-ha ha-ha … the man just wants his team to entertain. Period.

Now to our point for the week- the Black Queens of Ghana.15 goals in 3 matches. What would be Paha's explanation? What about the FA? Did you see the coach (I mean coach Paha) jubilating after the Queens scored through Adwoa Bayor when we were down by 7 goals? Ghana football!! Nobody knows when we're starting our league, not even the FA President or the PLB Chairman. The Blacks Stars are struggling to sparkle and the Black Queens have moved from the category of bad to worse. How are we administering women football in this country? In 1999 we lost all 3 matches we played when the tournament was played in the United States of America. There was an improved performance in 2003 in Germany with the Queens winning 2-1 against Australia, which was our first ever win at the Women's World Cup even though we couldn't make it past the first round. Instead of women's football progressing, its rather retrogressing. The politics in the women's football arena should be set aside to enable a total upliftment of the sport. Ghana needs people who have been involved in the game and who knows the game. To be honest, it's not easy to manage girls who play football.

I was once a sports master of a second cycle school and formed a very solid women football team but managing them was really a big problem. I personally do not see why the likes of Alberta Sackey, Elizabeth Baidoo and the rest who have retired from the game cannot be used. What stops the FA from enrolling some of these ladies into coaching courses with the primary objective of giving them some of the youth women teams to manage? Frankly speaking, it's a totally different ball game managing a women's team. I don't blame Paha anyway. Have you had the chance of watching the Korean women's team at the World Cup? It was the same team that won the women's U-20 World Cup in Russia. Ghana's Black Princesses (the U-20 team) performed creditably at the last All African Games but very typical of Ghanaians, we'll just sit back for the team to move from good to bad. What about the Black Damsels (Under 12 team) who went to win the inaugural edition of the special FIFA U-12 women's football tournament?

If the President of the FA (Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi) who is a big fan of “90 Minutes” is reading, then I believe Alberta Sackey should be enrolled into a coaching course after which the U12 or U-20 team could be given to her to manage. Since she was once a player, she'll know how to help develop the players. An academy should also be formed for those girls to help them develop the players. What about Madam Habiba Atta, who almost made history in becoming the first lady to play in the Ghanaian men's league. This a woman who own two teams in the Ashanti Region Osei Tutu ladies and Fabulous ladies. She houses all the players for free and has an arrangement with some of the second cycle institutions for scholarships for the girls with regards to their education (Garden City High School should be commended). She was once the Welfare Officer of the Queens and I really believe she would be re-instated. In her case, she knows the girls, knows how they think, how they feel about football and moreover she knows the game very well.

The FA should also hire a foreign trainer whose expertise is in women's football in order to train our queens. No offence to our coaches but this is women's football and it's a totally different world together. The FA should moreover organize a proper league for the women at least at the level where there are no cases at the Disciplinary Committee to stand in the way of the league. If the FA cannot organize a national league, a regional one will do, with the champions playing a mini tournament to crown the real champions. This is this week's point. Sorry to our readers for not being able to bring you the coverage of the WWC. I had a problem securing a seat on my flight. We promise to bring you more coverage of our national teams' matches in future.