Young Ghana team unlikely to lift elusive fifth title

Ghana's hopes of adding a fifth African Nations Cup title to their list of honors rests with a young team and the inspirational Bayern Munich defender Sammy Kuffour.

However few people in the west African state believe that the Black Stars will be crowned African champions again, an honour they last achieved in 1982 after earlier successes in 1963, 1965 and 1978.

This will be Ghana's 14th appearance in the finals and coaching the side is a man who was responsible for one of those old triumphs of the past: Fred Osam-Duodu, coach when Ghana won the championship in 1978.

This time he has decided to go for youth rather than experience to kick-start Ghana's preparation for the 2006 World Cup preparation but he has been widely criticised by the local press.

The veteran coach has also been hit by a number of injuries to key foreign-based players.

Ghana's most prolific strikers, Charles Amoah of Austrian side Sturm Graz and Peter Ofori-Quaye of Olympiakos, will be sidelined as will AC Parma midfielder Stephen Appiah.

Appiah, who was key to Osam-Duodu's plans, has been battling with a nagging thigh injury while Amoah, who scored three goals in the qualifiers, was ruled out by a toe injury.

There was also no place for the domestic league's most valuable player Charles Taylor of Hearts of Oak in the 22-man squad that has only four players with previous Nations Cup experience.

Meanwhile Udinese defender Mohammed Gargo decided to skip the tournament to pursue a possible transfer to Inter Milan in Italy's Serie A.

The Black Stars have not had a very successful preparation for the Nations Cup. They lost their last two warm-up games to a Basque Country select team and Egypt.

Ghana are in group B with Burkina Faso, Morocco and South Africa but one man can be relied upon to make sure none of those opponents have an easy time against the Ghanaian defence - Bayern Munich defender Sammy Kuffour.

Kuffour will be making his fourth appearance at Africa's biggest soccer event and is one of 12 foreign-based players from countries spread across Europe.

The Bayern star, voted Ghana's top sportsman this month, is firm favourite to win the African Footballer of the Year award to be named by the Confederation of African Football in April.

Whether he takes that award or not, and whether he takes it as skipper of the African Nations Cup champions remains to be seen.

PIC: Celebrations at last year Youth Cup in Argentina