South Africa versus West Africa ....

....as AFCON 2013 reach quarter finals

The 2013 African Cup of Nations being hosted by South Africa has reached the quarter final stage and the boys have gone home leaving the men to fight for honours.

16 countries came to the tournament and now it is left with eight, namely host nation, South Africa and seven West African countries- Ghana, Cape Verde, Nigeria, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

These nations have proved that they are currently the best in Africa when it comes to the popular game that most people love. The West African countries have shown that they are the best and have given the saying that "the best come from the west" real meaning.

Defending champions, Zambia went out courtesy Burkina Faso and though most people do not fancy the Burkinabes, some experts of the game feel they can cause some havoc.

Cape Verde is now the country that is fearful, but the Black Stars of Ghana will take good care of them and go on to the grand final, if they remain focused and concentrate on reaching the very last game. Nigeria who brought 17 new stars to the competition do not look fearful and might not reach the grand final, same like Mali and Togo.

Ivory Coast look like a great side with top players but they will be unlucky again. They should have won the African Cup the last time in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

South Africa have been just lucky to reach this stage and their best could be a Semi Final berth where Ghana should take care of them. The Bafana Bafana may be backed by home support and familiarity to the grounds, but it is the time for Ghana. Ghana Black Stars who have not won the trophy for the past 31 years are more eager and serious than most teams and they must give all their best to edge out the host and the cup will reach Accra.

Looking at player to player in all the teams, I can boldly say the best of Ghana is yet to come. The Black Stars as we know are slow starters and as the tournament progresses they will show the stuff they are made of.

Goal Keeper Fatau Dauda has been superb so far. He has not committed any serious blunder just like John Paintsil, the main motivator of the team on the field. Harrison Afful is doing his best just like John Boye and Isaac Vorsah who are hard at the defence, clearing all lose balls.

In midfield, which is the main engine room of Ghana, the creative stars namely Derek Boateng, Mubarak Wakaso, Rabui Mohammed, Kwadwo Asamoah and Emmanuel Agyman Badu are performing wonderfully to the satisfaction of the technical men.

In attack where the goals come from, Skipper Asamoah Gyan, Albert Adomah and Emmanuel Clottey have shown that on a good they, they are just dangerous.

The man who has made things work for Ghana is young darling boy Christian Atsu who many refer to as the African Messi. He is the playmaker of the Black Stars and has lived up to expectation, collecting the man of the match in the last game after he scored a cheeky goal.

I can boldly say Ghana has so far played the best game, and it is no wonder that they are called the Brazil of Africa. They only have to be serious and remove complacency from their minds and go on and on to make it a fifth time, just like Brazil who have won the FIFA World Cup five times. The only challenge for Ghana may come from host nation, South Africa, but many South Africans have shifted allegiance to Ghana and we are now called ‘Baghana Baghana’. This also should not make the Stars swollen headed like in 2010 at the World Cup when the South African nationals supported them and they failed to break the records of Cameroun and Senegal.

This time Ghana has meant the Africa Cup even more than the FIFA World Cup, that is why the government of H.E. John Mahama has tried its best to make it possible for one thousand fans, including over 60 sports journalists to come down to cheer and inspire the team to win and win well. The players of Ghana will perform on the field, but without support and prayers it will be hard. We pray that the match officials are fair and no players attracts the red card that can damage Coach Kwesi Appiah's plans so that the best team wins the trophy.

Sportsinghana.com the most authentic source of sports news and Ghanaweb wish the Black Stars all the best.