Ghana is there...but there's no fever. Wassup?

Yesterday, the Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac became the second man from that country -in succession- to take Ghana to the World Cup.

And he did it with his team of Black Stars at the Ohene Djan Stadium. the atmosphere was nothing short of electric and the boys cruised to victory with a minimum of fuss.

Work done. 2010 is at the corner. Yawn.

Yet I had the distinct feeling that the mood in the country was one of simple joy not wild ecstasy like it was the first time Ghana qualified for Germany. Well, maybe the people here are getting used to being World Cuppers. Sheesh.

See the highlights of the game then:

wcb

Well done to the Black Stars and with that they become the 8th country (overall) to get tickets to SA and the first in Africa.

We can't wait!

Used: Richard Kingson; John Paintsil, Harrison Afful, Eric Addo, John Mensah; Anthony Annan, Samuel Inkoom, Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah/Laryea Kingston, Sulley Muntari/Haminu Draman; Matthew Amoah/Asamoah Gyan

Substitutes not used: William Amamoo, Opoku Agyemang, Isaac Vorsah, and Derek Boateng.

Coming to town for the Sudan duel

As at yesterday night, four Ghana players had breezed into town in preparation for the Sudan game on the 6th.

More were expected by late evening and this morning too. Those in included big boys - captain Stephen Appiah and his deputy John Mensah.

Appiah came straight from his training base in Italy while John Mensah arrived from England after completing his switch to Sunderland. Goalkeeper George Owu and Asamoah Gyan are also around. Asamoah scored at the weekend for Rennes.

Also expected from around the world are John Pantsil, Matthew Amoah, Eric Addo, Haminu Dramani, Samuel lnkoom, Opoku Agyemang. As for Michael Essien, Anthony Annan and Richard Kingson, they will be expected to be in Tuesday night.

Ghana lead Group Four of the World Cup qualifiers with all nine points. Ghana will surely qualify for the World Cup if they beat Sudan and Mali hold Benin in Coutonou.

Squad for Sudan out and it's just ok.

Milovan Rajevac has almost got the Ghana national team to the World cup and the cup of Nations. Indeed he has done so in a pretty neat way with a 100% record. The other day Ghana played Zambia I remarked to a taxi driver that we had gotten used to seeing the stars win. And we felt a warm glow of pride about that...

Now the team is on its final lap to 2010 and Milo has named a 20 man team for Sudan it has the usual suspects, really.

The only surprise in the squad is that Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese) has been benched because of his injury. The other news is that after almost 1 year out, Laryea is back. That hamstring really gave him the shakes.

Another man who is back is Asamoah Gyan, who's been having a good time so far in Rennes with no injuries.

Well then so Milo has a strong team and would be expected to do the double over the Crocs on the 6th of September.

Can't wait!

If Ghana wins, we might as well start taking out the champagne flutes...

Stuck in the mud: Ghana stays in 35th

Ghana stayed in 35th place of the latest Fifa world ranking release on Wednesday for the month of August.

The Black Stars are still the continent's sixth best behind Ivory Coast, Cameroun, Gabon, Egypt and Nigeria.

Ghana will play Zambia in an international friendly on 12 August and Sudan on 6 September in a joint Nations Cup/World Cup qualifier in Accra.

Almost the entire top 20 of the latest edition of the Fifa world ranking remains unchanged.

Brazil, who returned to the top in July, are still the leaders ahead of Spain and the Netherlands.

Behind them are Italy who have lost more points than Germany following the devaluation of previous matches and have therefore been overtaken by them.

Board members doing recruitment?

Hearts of Oak have set-up a five-man recruitment committee to strengthen their squad ahead of next season's campaign.

The members include Frank Nelson, Alhaji Fawaz Zowk, Isaac Tetteh, Harry Zakour and Alhaji Hearts. Their immediate task is to scout for new players to augment their squad for the qualifiers of next year's Caf Champions League.

SO begins the story but I wonder if the management of a club are responsible for scouting. I thought that was in the purview of the technical team?

For me, these is just one reason why Ghana's football teams have lived in a constant up season - down season existence. This season they are great, the next they have issues...and on and on.

Jobs meant for management should be left for them and those for the technical team should be left to them. The committee constituted does not have a single coach in it, yet they would scout for players for the technical team to use. And, predictably, if the technical guys cannot work with the procured material, they'll be axed. Fast.

In the end, who loses? All the stakeholders!

To the best of my knowledge a Board is responsible for affirming or declining the request by a technical team to sign certain players. They do not have to do it themselves!

And, before you go thinking Hearts of Oak are alone in this quagmire of mis-practice, think again. They are not; it is an inherently Ghanaian football malaise.

The earlier they stopped putting their butts where it doesn't belong, the better for all involved.

Laters!

Seen the poll?

There's a new poll on here for those into the Ghanaian Premier league...its on the right...just a few scrolls down.

Someone’s mind is finally coming home.

Sulley Muntari says he would continue to remain loyal to Ghana despite concerns about his commitment to the Black Stars.

When that story made the news at the start of the week, my first thought was “no one is bigger than the national team after all.”

Remember when Muntari’s mum said without her son, there was no Black Stars? Well, Ghana called his bluff.

Muntari missed two of Ghana’s (crucial) 2010 World Cup qualifying matches this month. He said it was due to injury. Fair play to him.

Against Mali, Kwadwo Asamoah made some of us forget momentarily that Sulley was absent. Remember that 25-odd yarder? Well, in the end the Black Stars won 2-0.

Sections of the local media who doubted the Inter Milan player’s reasons for absenting himself had many conspiracy theories. Before then I had also taken a dig at the guy for an earlier incident in Kumasi.

No problem. Ghana then faced Sudan, again away, and once again, won without the man.

Obviously, the point has been well made by Milo that his team does not rely on a hard-and-fast set of core players, no matter how integral they may be.

And so Muntari broke his silence to respond to rife jabs at his loyalty to the national cause.

“I played for about two months of the season with an injury and sometimes I will train once a week and play on the weekend or not train at all.

“When the season ended I did a test and was told to rest.

“I could not have decided all of a sudden not to play for the country again.”

We like you, Muntari. Your contribution to this team has been great but please you are not bigger than the Stars. Never have, never will be.

Muntari’s - and those of other players - has seen the emergence of some young internationals which is expected to raise the level of competition for places in the team but Muntari says he welcomes it.

I say: you better.

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Sudan 0-2 Ghana - video

I was in the studios of TV3 at the time this game was played.

Spain - South Africa was on and we were talking about that so immediately we went off air, we had two games to watch, obviously because Ghana - Sudan was important as well.

In the 5th minute Prince Tagoe laid the ball to Matthew Amoah who put the ball where it belonged. The NAC Breda man followed in the second half with one similar to the one he scored against Mali.


Sudan 0 - Ghana 2



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The win hands Ghana 9 points in Group D and have a hundred percent record in the qualifiers so far.

Ghana line up:

Richard Kingson, Samuel Inkoom, Harrison Afful, John Mensah, Eric Addo, Michael Essien, Anthony Annan, Opoku Agyemang/Isaac Vorsah, Mathew Amoah/Junior Agogo, Prince Tagoe/Haminu Draman, Kwadwo Asamoah.

Unused Subs: George Owu, Samuel Kyere, Moussa Narry,and Jonathan Quartey.
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Sudan - Ghana preview

Sudan - Ghana

Venue: Al Merreikh Stadium, Omdurman

World Cup/ Nations Cup qualifier

Saturday 20 June 2009

Kickoff: 1730 GMT

So, the Black Stars have left Kenya for Sudan. Today, they play in this important World/Nations Cup qualifier. A win for Ghana would surely mean they are through to Angola - at the very least. A fortnight ago, the Ghanaians were powered to a fine 2-0 win over Mali in Bamako.

Not too far from there - in the African sense - is Omdurman. There, Sudan would love to cause an upset and beat Ghana.

Ghana are at the top of Group 4 with six points and a victory will boost their chances of making their second World Cup finals appearance.

Sudan, on the other hand, lost 1-0 to Benin and complicated their chances of qualifying for South Africa. Yet, the door to Angola 2010 is not closed to them as yet.They are with only one point from two games.

After training in Kenya and beating locals Oserian FC 3-0, the Black Stars will have to do without important players such as skipper Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari, Asamoah Gyan, Laryea Kingston.

Defender John Paintsil (suspended) will miss the game and feels a bit down - but not out:

"Yes, It's two things now. First of all I feel disappointed I am not with the team that am not playing because I have two yellow cards but am confident of a win," Paintsil told ghanasoccernet.
"What I can say now is that each and every one of us is prepared to die for the nation and there's competition.

"So am not panicking now. I have full confidence in the team that travelled to Sudan and I believe that they are going to deliver."
Samuel Yeboah was included in the squad to strengthen the attacking line.

Meanwhile Sudan's coach Stephen Constantine is also as optimistic as Paintsil yet he is keeping his cards close to his bosom, as he told BBC Sport:

"It'll be a very tough game but we're looking forward to it."

"We believe we can cause an upset. "Obviously it's a big game for us here in Sudan, playing against a team like Ghana with all their European stars."

Sudan full squad:

Bahaeldin Abdallah, Mahjoub El Moez, Mohamed Ali Khider, Ahmed Al Basha, Musa Al Tayeb, Amir Damar, Alaeldin Ahmed Gibril, Khalid Hassan, Yousef Alaeldin, Omer Bakheit, Badreldin El Doud, Saifeldin Ali Idris, Hassan Isaac Korongo, Rashard Justin Lado, Mugahid Mohamed, Haitham Mostafa, Mohamed Tahir, Abdelhamid Amari, Faisal Agab, Alaeldin Babiker, Haitham Tambal.

Ghana full squad:

Richard Kingson, George Owu, John Mensah, Eric Addo, Isaac Vorsah, Micheal Essien, Mousa Narry, Samuel Kyere, Samuel Inkoom, Bernard Kumordji, Ernest Papa Arko, Prince Tagoe, Kodjo Asamoah, Mathew Amoah, Opoku Agyeman, Junior Manuel Agogo, Haminu Dramani, Joe-tex Frimpong, Anthony Annan.

Officials:

Centre: Jamel Ambaya (Libya)

Assistants: Abdulfatah Etriki/Ibrahim Farkash (Libya).

Fourth official: Mohamed Imhamed (Libya)

Prediction

Sudan 1-3 Ghana

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Blacks Stars are getting ready

With the African/World Cup qualifiers going down, Ghana continued preparing in their Kenyan camp.

The senior national team beat Oserian - a Division 2 side - by three goals to nada.

Goals came from Michael Essien, Kwadwo Asamoah and Matthew Amoah according to reports.

According to ghanasoccernet, head coach Milovan Rajevac fielded two set of players but minus goalkeeper Richard Kingson and striker Joetex Frimpong who arrived late in Kenya.

The first set which featured George Owu, Moussa Narry, Harrison Afful, Jonathan Quartey, Isaac Vorsah, Sam Kyere, Sam Yeboah, Haminu Draman, Papa Arko and Junior Agogo ended the first half goalless.

A different set which featured regulars Philemon McCarthy, John Mensah, Opoku Agyeman, Samuel Inkoom, Eric Addo and Moussa Narry got the goals.

The team played this game yesterday and will leave Kenya for Sudan tomorrow.

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Kenya camping

Ghana arrived in Kenya on Sunday to prepare for the impending Sudan game on Saturday. That would be another round of the World/Nations' Cup qualifiers.

There were seventeen players were at the last training session in Accra last Saturday, from the 22 that went to Mali where they secured a 2-0 victory.

The team is made up of Richard Kingson, George Owu, John Mensah, John Paintsil, Eric Addo, Isaac Vorsah, Micheal Essien, Mousa Narry, Samuel Kyere, Samuel Inkoom and Bernard Kumordji.

Ernest Papa Arko, Prince Tagoe, Kojo Asamoah, Mathew Amoah, Opoku Agyeman and Junior Manuel Agogo are the others.

The Black Stars training would involve a game with a Division 2 Kenyan team later today.

They'll be expected to leave the East African country before departing to Omdurman on Thursday to get ready.

Milovan Rajevac: "We are going to work seriously on our strength and concentration in the next few days and I believe this will get us well prepared for the task ahead.

"The Sudanese side is a good team, with a lot of talented players. They could be dangerous on any day and are very potent in the dying minutes of every game, so we must guard against these things."

He said there would be slight technical and tactical changes to the team to enable them to achieve their target in Sudan. A victory for The Black Stars in Omdruman will put them on the brink of a second successive World Cup appearance.

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