When mercurial Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan rocketed the ball past American goalie Tim Howard in the 93rd minute of last Saturday's crucial match, the Ghanaian BBQ party where I was with friends erupted in delight. From Streatham to Stratford, via Brixton, Tottenham, Norbury and Northolt, London's Ghanaian community was ecstatic.
In winning, the Black Stars (as the Ghanaian team are commonly known) became only the third African side in the history of the competition to make it to the quarter- finals. They played with tenacity, flair and heart — all values which Africa embodies but which tend to get obscured by the seemingly endless bad news from the continent.
They passed gracefully. They were strong and composed. In short, they were a team any country could be proud of — unlike England.
Let's be honest: who needs the macho posturing of a Terry or the surly gurning of a Rooney when you've got the lithe dexterity of right back Samuel Inkoom or rock-solid defender Jonathan Mensah? What's more, the Black Stars play as a team, not as a collection of cosseted, overpaid egos — surely one of the key factors in their success thus far.
But look closer and there's more to them than just a skilful and dignified team. In leading African football, the Black Stars are remaining true to the role that Ghana has played in Africa and for its diaspora for decades. Since independence under Kwame Nkrumah in 1957, Ghana has been a byword for stability, prosperity and good governance in a deeply troubled part of the continent.
With an estimated population of roughly 200,000 in London, the Ghanaians form one of the oldest African communities in the capital: there have been a lot of Ghanaian flags, red-yellow-green stripes with a black star, on display in our city over the past two weeks. Many notable Black Brits — rappers Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder, Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng, broadcaster Henry Bonsu, newly elected Conservative MPs Sam Gyimah and Kwasi Kwarteng — are proud of their parents' Ghanaian origins.
As Ghana are the last African team left in the World Cup, come Friday's quarter-final against Uruguay a whole continent's expectations will be resting on the Black Stars' shoulders. We can but hope that Pele's infamous prediction about an African team winning the World Cup by 2000 finally comes true, albeit a decade late.
So can the tactically disciplined African Davids of the competition provide a fairytale finish to uplift the world and with it London's African community? It may be a long shot against their likely semi-final opponents, Brazil. But as a son of the diaspora myself, I'll be rooting for Ghana with rare conviction. In fact, though, as geneticists have now proved, we are all sons and daughters of Africa: homo erectus first migrated out of the continent around 1.8 million years ago. And England are out of the World Cup. So, in the spirit of ubuntu (togetherness), I urge you all to embrace your inner Ghanaian and get behind this remarkable team from a remarkable nation.
Think about it this way: if Ghana win, football's coming home — to the motherland. No country or continent deserves it more.
