May 25, 2006
FINALLY ON THE WORLD STAGE
Ghana gets a chance to strut its stuff

How many times have soccer's experts and observers put Ghana on the World Cup pedestal, only to be severely disappointed with the results and reality?

They're too numerous to mention. Think of the anomaly. Ghana became the first country to win the African Nations Cup four times. They won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, not once, but twice (although age cheating revelations in later years tainted the championships). They boasted some of the best and exciting players in Africa, if not the world in the fabulous Abedi Pele and Anthony Yeboah.

But when push came to shove for the grand prize -- a trip to the World Cup, the western African country -- always fell short of reaching soccer's promised land -- until the 2006 World Cup.

Despite having four coaching changes and obvious continuity problems -- i.e. lineup changes -- Ghana finally made it.

"I didn't care much for all this talk about Ghana having never made it to the World Cup before," coach Ratomir Dujkovic told FIFA Magazine. "I was not interested in what happened before. I just knew deep down we would be in Germany."

When Ghana became one of five African sides to qualify for the World Cup, Dujkovic likened it to the country receiving its independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. "This is the crowning of my career," he said. "I am very happy. We are very proud to be in this competition. We are not coming to participate. We are coming to compete."

Dujkovic was realistic about his team's chances, but he has to be hopeful as well. "I believe [Ghana] and USA will do their best to surprise for one of the first or second positions," he said. "We are happy to be there. But of course, it will be so very difficult for us because we are new. I always said, with 11 boys anything can happen."

Instead of dominating at the 2006 African Nations Cups as they did in the past, the Ghanaians were eliminated in the first round, but the team had an excuse -- holding midfielder Michael "The Bison" Essien didn't play due to an ankle injury. Ghana finished out of the money, losing to Nigeria, 1-0, rebounding with a 1-0 win over Senegal and eliminated in a 2-1 defeat to Zimbabwe.

Only 23, Essien could wind up on that same pedestal as Pele and Yeboah -- with one big exception -- he will have played in a World Cup. Essien signed with Chelsea in a record $43 million transfer (for an African) from Lyon in 2005. He is a handful to stop.

So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the team relies on him a lot, which, of course can be good or bad, depending which way you look it. On the plus, if Essien has a dominating match, he'll carry the Black Stars on his shoulders. If he is injured or has a sub-par game, Ghana could be in trouble.

Before the tournament, Dujkovic said the absence of the injured Essien and Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan would severely weaken his team. "We cannot expect too much without these players, them not being here is a big problem for us," he told Reuters.

He was correct.

But the Black Stars have a few other players who can play, as well.

Nicknamed Tornado, captain and midfielder Stephen Appiah is the engine of this team as a two-way player. He has scored 10 international goals in 38 appearances, excellent for someone who is an accomplished ball-winner as well. Only 25-years-old, Appiah already has eight seasons of top-flight experience with the likes of Udinese, Parma, Brescia and Juventus in Italy's Serie A and Fenerbahce of Turkey, for which he currently performs.

Veteran defender Sammy Kuffour, apparently has ironed out his problems with Dujkovic; he was restored to the team after a two-year absence after the team had qualified. Kuffour, a clever and fast defender who performs for Borussia Dortmund (Germany), will bring plenty of big-game experience to a back line that could use some.

"The only famous player we have are Appiah and Essien," midfielder Matthew Amoah told Calcio Italia magazine. "The rest of the guys are relatively unknown. But we are a strong group. We work for each other. We are one, like family and that is the secret of our success."

One player Dujkovic shouldn't count on Germany midfielder Laryea Kingston, who was suspended four games for fighting with Senegal's Habib Beye in a 1-0 victory at the Nations Cup in January.

In a group that includes the Czech Republic, United States and Italy, it will be difficult to move on. But Ghana certainly has its backers.

"They will not win the World Cup, and, while they could qualify for the second round, I can't see them getting beyond that," African soccer journalist Durosimi Thomas told www.BBC.com.

At one point Ghana had considered going after D.C. United's much-heralded Freddy Adu, who turns 17 on June 2.

Ghana twice tried to coax Adu to join its national side. If Adu had changed his mind, Ghana team spokesman Ranford Abbey said his team would welcome him with open arms. "Why not? Why not?" he said. "We love him. He's Ghanaian. He's a talented player."

But Ghana was forced to give up the dream on Jan. 22, when Adu made his first international appearance for the U.S., coming in for Eddie Johnson in the 81st minute of the scoreless draw with Canada. In fact, Adu became the youngest male player to play for the U.S. at 16 years, 234 days old.

An interesting bit of information for World Cup history buffs

Despite its glorious history and talented players, Ghana had to wait years before it qualified for the Cup. Nine African teams made it there before the Ghanaians did -- Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zaire.