Wake Up Call for Ghana After Castle Lager Hangover

Ghana failed to live up their billing as favourites to lift the inaugural Castle Lager Four Nations trophy in Nairobi last month.

The former African champions took a second string side that included the fringes of their overseas-based players to a tournament involving mainly the also-rans of African football.

But if the organisers were hoping to get the Ghanaians in the final to get a sell out crowd, they were mistaken as the West Africans crashed to a surprise 2-1 defeat at the hands of Uganda in the semi-finals.

The least the four times African champions were expected to achieve was third place, however, in the play-off a nine-man Black Stars were humiliated by the Taifa Stars of Tanzania who came from a goal down to win 3-2.

The sending-offs were just part of the problems for the Ghanaians. Discipline was lacking in the side as new coach Fred Osam Duodu lost control of his foreign legion. There was less commitment in a side that also included seven home-based players.

Uganda have waited for 22 years to avenge the 1978 defeat the East Africans suffered at the hands of Ghana in the final of the African Nations Cup final and the Black Stars surrendered easily.

Suspended Tanzania also had a lot to celebrate after defeat to Ghana in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year. Tanzania were suspended by FIFA 24 hours before the match due to a dispute between the country's former chairman and a newly appointed executive by the government.

Since the departure of Ghana's former coach, Giusseppe Dossena, the four nations is feared to be the start of another disaster for the Black Stars, after the debacle of Burkina Faso in 1998.

Dossena, who took over after the Burkina Faso diasater, restored some pride into the side for nearly 16 months before the Black Stars suffered their first defeat after a dozen matches.

But soon there was a fresh wave of crisis after Ghana reached the quarter-finals of the last Nations Cup as co-hosts with Nigeria, but their performance was far from convincing.

Following the disappointing Nations Cup, Dossena's contract was not renewed and the hunt for a new coach resumed, just weeks before a 2002 Nations Cup qualifier in Lesotho, where the Black Stars escaped with a 3-3 draw.

Dossena's departure also caused a national uproar and key players in the Black Stars threatened to pull out of all future international fixtures if the Italian coach was not retained. But Bayern Munich's Samuel Osei Kuffuor and the side's skipper, Charles Akunnor decided to drop their threat after a meeting with the country' vice president, Professor John Atta Mills.

Although the side are currently at the top of their World Cup qualifying group, following the 5-0 thrashing of Sierra Leone in Accra on July 9, there are fears that the Black Stars will not be up to the task qualifying for the 2002 event in Japan and South Korea.

Victory over a depleted Zimbabwe side in Accra last month provided the Black Stars with a much-needed boost for their next World Cup qualifying game next year, but the Castle Four Nations have left many in doubt again.

Most of the regular foreign-based players were unable to travel to Nairobi due to the ongoing European football season and it would have been a tussle to get them released from their various clubs.

Elections are due in the Ghanaian Football Association, which may likely see some changes to its leadership before the end of the year. A new executive would press the government to hire a foreign coach for the rest of the World and Nations Cup qualifiers. Sports minister Enoch Mensah has insisted that local coach Osam-Duodu stays in the post - a decision not popularly amongst the some of the present FA members.

Ghanaians are generally not obsessed with the Nations Cup, after four wins and three times as hosts. Qualifying for the World Cup is the country's priority, but it has proved elusive even when the Black Stars are at their peak.

The disastrous four-nation tournament in Kenya was without doubt a wake up call for the Black Stars to lace up their boots for the rest of the World Cup campaign, if complacency has began to take its toll. However, a different Black Stars is expected to play in the qualifiers, and a lot more will be expected from the side.