The Black Stars take on Equatorial Guinea’s national side in the AFCON semi final game in Malabo at 1900 GMT tomorrow, February 5th.
It’s been a kind of roller coaster tournament for the Stars’ so far, a journey that began with a 2-1 last gasp loss to Senegal. Since then the team has grown into themselves, enabling them to transition into the one of the best sides of the tournament, their reward a last four game against the hosts.
Equatorial Guinea have been quietly prodding along through the competition, their status as host married to a strong home support that has given the team a noticeable boost in their games. Their quarter final win over Tunisia featured all these elements; a rabid support base, grit and determination to fight back from a goal down right before full-time; but also a little favour from the referee such as host nations are wont to get when the going gets tough.
It’s against this backdrop that the Black Stars would face up to the Nzalang Nacional tomorrow. Aside the significant odds of facing the host nation, the Stars have their own demons to overcome. Since 2008, the side has made five consecutive AFCON semi finals, yet it was only in 2010 that they were able to reach the final; and they have not won the continental title since 1982.
What has been the cause of all these near misses? As with most things, it comes back to the mentality of the team. Aside 2008 when they lost to Cameoron, the team has always lost to minnows; teams that can be reasonably classed below Ghana, a category Equatorial Guinea firmly falls into.
There is always a problem with complacency, where the team gets the feeling they can easily dispatch of their opponents, which leads to a below par performance on the field of play. It happened against Zambia in 2012, and Burkina Faso in 2013.
In both games, Ghana could barely control their less illustrious opponents; Burkina Faso in particular run rings around the entire team before eventually winning on penalties, Zambia picked up their win with a late goal. In both instances, the team was surrounded by an off-pitch circus of camp incidents and silly superstitions.
This team has always been at their strongest when they are a united front, at Germany in 2006, or under Rajevac in 2010. It gives them a certain purpose, a sense of camaraderie that binds them into a formidable unit. That’s what made Rajevac’s side almost the first African team to make the world cup semi finals.
That team spirit has been missing since, and that has led to the below par performances at all tournaments hence; the worst, of course, being the 2014 world cup in Brazil- where all their dirty laundry was finally aired to a horrified Ghanaian public.
The scars of that tournament have still not fully healed for Ghanaians, which is why support for the team has been lukewarm at best. Their march to the semi finals has renewed some hope back home, and if they are not to disappoint like in AFCON’s past, they would need to find that je ne sais quoi that led them to the brink of world domination in 2010.
Four successive semi finals, one final; and nothing to show for it; it’s not a good reflection of the team that is supposed to be a continental powerhouse. It’s not going to be any easier in Malabo on Thursday, but so far the team has showed enough resilience to show they look more like their 2010 incarnation than the one from Brazil.
Equatorial Guinea is not going to be pushovers, particularly at home; and referees so far have not shown any hesitation in occasionally coming to their aid. The Black Stars have this jinx to contend with as well as the potential absence of the captain of the side.
They have certainly shown enough to warrant hope that they can surmount this hurdle. Grant has instilled a certain resilience in his side, and above all that should be the quality that would stand them in good stead in that semi final game.
From captious scepticism this team has roped in the Ghanaian public back to the rabid state that always accompany their appearances at tournaments. If they would fully win back the trust of the Ghanaian public, they would not only have to win the semi final but bring that trophy all the way back to Ghana.
All they need to accomplish that is to break that jinx that has been plaguing them for close to a decade; and that’s easier said than done.
They are going to go far if they continue with the spirit they have had since their second game till now.
This one they’re flying the officials to watch the match…abi they know dada…deja vu is what I see…if not why not wait till the finals to fly all the way there to show your support….but I wish the blackstars all the best….a pleasant surprise in terms of them winning the cup is the best way to put a smile on our faces when all we see when we look around is dumsor aka Mahama