By Charles Cobbina
Today I stand very vindicated because ever since James Kwesi Appiah was given the mantle as coach of the Black Stars his supporters and I writing from under the big trees in the forests of Ankwaso the source of the Ankobra river have believed that the man was more than capable of qualifying Ghana to the Mundial in Brazil.
If you google our articles since the last Serb was sacked and you will see proof of our vindication and absolute joy at Kwesi Appaih’s achievement. He has and deservedly so. Give us our stone.
So people must shut up and put up and stop propounding theories they have no basis. Talking of Technical Directorship and all.
A few days ago I was in the World Bank office responding to what they term a call for cash for civil societies on social accountability. I was sad for the people wishing the World Bank cash were many.
The foreign dependency is not stopping now. When the first Ghanaian home grown coach has emphatically qualified us to the World Cup at a quarter of the salary and benefits we used to pay foreign coaches, there is now a call for some person who possesses savvy and witchcraft for World Cup tournaments to be a technical something.
Please for once let us spare Kwesi Appiah the agony of that for he has suffered enough for being calm and extremely soft spoken.
The man knows what he is about, is competent, and able. He has proven beyond reasonable doubt, for he has qualified us. Nobody should use the second leg of the last play off qualifier against Egypt to make weak judgments.
It is the midfielders who disappointed. Now that Rabiu Mohammed is out of injury the place will not be the same for the able Kwesi Appiah.
In 1992 due to his calm nature the captain’s band was taken away from him to make some people popular in the then lavish French league and then the outcome is in our painful pages of Ghana football.
Not again, leave the man to dream of being the boss the OgaKwatakwata at Brazil 2014.
Which Black Stars coach has given the nation such luxury of player poaching and still kept absolute harmony. Albert Adoma is on the bench, Richard ‘Olele’ Kingson is out, Solomon Asante, Mahatma Otoo, Anthony Annan, Boakye Yiadom and Emmanuel Frimpong are not even on the bench.
The best of the Black Stars is yet to come. It is the boys who need to up their game for glory as for Kwesi Appiah, he has proven himself and can even do more if and only if all will back him with positive speech, prayers and cash incentives.
This Ghanaian has qualified us with the Black Stars scoring loads of goals. Under his watch the one goal project is long gone and the Black Stars bench of Mubarak Wakaso, Emmanuel Agyeman Badu, Christian Atsu, Kevin Prince Boateng and Jordan Ayew is deadlier than the starting lineup and it is the calm eyes of Kwesi Appiah who picked, dropped and re-picked to break the egos of youngsters that has brought us thus far.
Even pretenders-old guards followed Kwesi’s bee line to come back to the fold for the Mundial they must represent.
From us the Ankwaso Supporters Union of the Black Stars even though we will be watching the matches from the deep forests of Ghana we will be praying for you for we have absolute confidence in you and unlike Frank Nelson we are sure that whether you meet Spain or the hosts, Brazil, you have the standard skills, technical eye and the brilliance to give us an excellent result.
The writer is the founder of the Million Balls Project for African Children
Email: Kempescob@gmail.com
