body-container-line-1
30.11.2011 Feature Article

WE ARE PUTTING OUR TRUST IN YOU, GORAN! by CAMERON DUODU

WE ARE PUTTING OUR TRUST IN YOU, GORAN! by CAMERON DUODU
30.11.2011 LISTEN

Dearest Maniac Chieftains spread all over this soccer- infested Ghanaland, all ye unadulterated Fabulous addicts, it's a great joy to be able to present my case on how we can win the African Cup in January.

You all know that when it's getting to war time, I have to descend from Utopia and give a helping hand, for there are 20 million coaches, and it's time to be very clever when it comes to seeing 'eye to eye' concerning who our authentic players are. Every man is entitled to his opinion but some opinions take us straight to perdition, and for 30 years, our collective opinions and philosophies have yielded no fruits whatsoever [God bless the 1992 and 2010 runners-up crews].

Now we have a coach who as soon as he came to town 'tied' himself up by saying he came to win us trophies. I rejoiced, for the man has sure got some pluck to brag thus to soccer-infested Ghana. The man comes and observes all the cards, shuffles them here and there and then he makes a move that arouses me from my post-World Cup depression.


To cut a long story short, I am informing all and sundry, experts and novices, soccer nobility and pretenders, that the 'sinful omission' of Quincy Owusu- Abeyie from the Ghana/Uruguay quarter-final World Cup clash vexed the very Heavens and you all know how Heaven mocked us with that 'last goal for closing' penalty comedy of a 'jolly gaffe'. I had predicted before-hand that Prince Tagoe and Amoah don't cut it,[you all know how you insulted the poor lad at the time] but I, as the Chief Maniac and Emperor of Utopia had 'opinionated' this already and if I'd been afforded the necessary respect, you would all have been saved from that agony.


In the same vein, I now tell you that Quincy is quintessential to our World Cup winning blue-print. Didn't Quincy score against Latvia after Holland had deflated us 4-1? Quincy came from the bench and in a trice, he'd got the match-winner. This Kotoko Express writer 'chopped' everybody lotto, but instead of some people [power brokers/destiny changers] rejoicing and shrieking 'eureka', the mass hysteria Prince Tagoe was causing made them try to subvert the gospel truth which I was presenting to you. Knowing how formidable any Black Star squad is and given the million soccer prayer requests ascending to Heaven, the 'destiny changers' were quite sure that they could subvert the Utopian prophecies of yours truly.


But what happens? Quincy gets a 2nd-half strut against Australia and in a trice, he moves past 2 Aussies from the left wing towards the left edge of the box; he meets Kojo Asamoah and flicks him the pass and darts away; that original 'thiefman' darts off to breach the defence; but a 'blockheaded' Kojo Asamoah is at sea over the 'one, two' move; the ' me to you, you to me', and -- blasts an 'over the bar'!

And Quincy flails his hands in exasperation at such a petty-minded simpleton. Yes, the guy had robbed Quincy of his lightning-flash 'mass destruction' goal and how many 'so called experts' even noticed it?


Two minutes later, he skates past 2 Aussies and goes over the 'D' and sees Gyan; gives him the pass and again, darts out to breach the defence. And what does Gyan do? He turns around in a 'sickenlng' manner and the move fizzles out.

Quincy had been sabotaged out of his 2 goals. Why didn't Gyan give him the return pass? It was as if to say, ”Don't come and spoil my party”; I have scored 2 penalties and I am the 'sexy dancer' and you want to score when you haven't been on for even 5 minutes? What Gyan had forgotten was that in CAN 2008 in Accra against Namibia, when he got insulted to the blues for some atrocious misses, it was Quincy who passed to Agogo to save some serious blushes.

When I was writing for the 'Weekly Spectator' I did some unsolicited campaigning for Gyan [2005] when he was omitted from a crucial goalless home game with Congo D.R., telling Coach Arday that when a man has scored a last-minute equaliser in Kampala to show that Ghana really wants to go to the Word Cup, you just for courtesy and gratitude's sake don't omit him from the next match. And then, Doya took over and took Gyan to Kinshasa and within 12 minutes Gyan had mashed Kinshasa. Gyan's refusal to 'assist' Quincy was in very bad taste, for it was as though he didn't know that Black Stars was a Kings' team. For instance, in 1961, Black Stars toured Europe, [U.S.S.R, East and West Germany and Czechoslovakia]. We played 12 matches, won 9, lost 2 and drew 1. After 12 matches, Edward Acquah [then with Eleven Wise] had banged in 11 goals; Mohammed Salisu [Asante Kotoko] had banged 9, whilst Wilberforce Kojo Mfum [also Asante Kotoko] had hauled in 8. Others had got 1 or 2 here and there. All Kings, my Lord, pure Kings!!!


In 1978, when we hosted CAN and won in Accra, it was with an array of Kings--.Afriyie, Razak, Kyenkyenhene, Dadzie and Carr [Asante Kotoko] Polo, Ofei Ansah, Anas and Yawson [Hearts of Oak], Acquaye, Awuley Quaye and Kayede [Gt Olympics] and Paha[Wise], yes kings all over.


Do you think dribbling magician/professor/scorer of important goals, the Mohammed Ahmed Polo himself, you think he'll envy Golden Boy [Abdul Razak] and deny him a pass? You think it was envy that enabled Golden Boy to be adjudged 'Africa's Best Player'? Certainly not, for it was Kings all over and Opoku Afriyie is still scoring and white hand-kerchiefing [like in Kumasi] then you Asamoah Gyan refused to give Quincy a ball out of a 'tinge of envy'.

You think if Quincy had been an unbridled failure at the World Cup he'd be playing for Malaga and Panathanaikos? Kevin got his Milan stint through shining at the tourney. So Africa was shortchanged, when Quincy was treated as a nonentity because perhaps my big and accurately correct mouth had promoted him! This probably attracted the ire of the 'destiny changers', who thought they were the true gurus.

Jah Almighty let us beat America without Quincy and it was a sweet victory. However, with Dede out of the quarters for card offences, the way was paved by Jah for Quincy to 'fulfil the book'. And look at how Heaven showed us sense.

My lords, ball dey enter net, Suarez dey catch am,120 minutes gone, 'panatic for Ghana', and they and them that took part in the changing of the great destiny, have had retribution from on high, and they all know themselves.Their Boa Constrictor hold on Ghana Soccer has been neutralised and 'though hand join in hand, the wicked shall by no means go unpunished'.


When again is the World Cup going to be played at home for Mandela to invite us to his yard in anticipation of a great victory? When Muntari scores against Uruguay and is being changed and we're all expecting Quincy, they bring on Appiah -- just like in the U.S.A. match! Yes, they constricted Quincy from the Yankee match and then when the Lord Himself has removed Dede so Quincy can face Uruguay (within 90 minutes we'd have gotten our 3 goals and there'd be no need even for extra time) you notice how Appiah 'short leg' in some sideways movement and it was too plain to see that, 'can Quincy 'short leg' like that in the most important game of our lives?'


I mean Quincilicious would have written the script for Africa's first Semi-final appearance. Even great Kevin- Prince Boateng couldn't breach Uruguay's defence and it was time for real skill and magic and individual brilliance. Senegal made the quarters as debutants in 2002, thus matching what Ghana has done. So that petty self-satisfaction must stop with us, for her cousin is mediocrity. Did you know that mediocrity is contagious?

Since the World Cup, if it wasn't for Robert Mensah's 40th anniversary, I've not been 'communing' with you because nothing had changed. But then, there was a change and an inspired one at that. In late September, I got a call from an excited 'bredda', '.Aya Natty, Charley the coach choose Quincy ooh!!!' And I arose from my great anti Black Star hibernation and sat up and paid attention. Ei, we have shut up and Goran with his own intellect has seen the pricelessness of Owusu-Abeyie and has even gone to Greece to study him further?

I am fully awake now. What a clever man! And Jah Almighty rewarded our coach with an under-20 minutes

2-goal haul in Sudan, when Dede Ayew wasn't called up, and even in spite of our having a red card against us. Just look at the marvellous grace of God in that match because Coachie had invited Quincy which was a mega move in the spiritual realms and I am thoroughly impressed with Goran for choosing Quincy on his own volition.

Now, at the time when the coach had done the right thing, come and see ignoramuses saying things like 'it's not because of Dede, but is the coach telling us that in all his pre-season loitering around Europe, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie was the only one he was able to see? [Niania rep, Fiifi Tackie, on TV3 Diva Show] and Osei-Asibey of Happy FM said on TV3, 'the money that the coach used to go to Greece should be regarded as a waste of public funds'. [Oh, bro' Charles, below the belt] and as for Metro's Nana Agyemang, remember he 'downed' Quincy prior to the World Cup and I jostled him in Kotoko Express that when the Emperor of Utopia is telling Ghana that Quincy is quintessential, what business has he got to 'down' the superstar?


The very next day, Quincy got the winner against Latvia and Nana Agyemang won't accept defeat, for at half time in the October outing with Nigeria, he said 'If Quincy doesn't come up with a miracle in the proportion of our Lord Jesus Christ, he shouldn't be called again'. And then he added disgracefully that 'Prince Tagoe shouldn't be called again'.[Did he notice this just in October?].

Now let me tell you why Quincy is quintessential to our cause.He is a 'Prime Mover ' of the ball, always going at breakneck speed, dribbling everything in sight.[remember how he ran like a racing car through Drogba's host in that bronze medal match in Kumasi?]


When we are locked up and at our wits' end against some really worthy opponents, that is when you need people with the audacity to totally disrespect the opponent by dribbling everything in sight. From Baba Yara to Ofei Dodoo to Osei Kofi to Polo to Abedi to Joe Debrah to Charles Taylor to outrageous Quincy. We always have had a “One Man Thousand' and Quincy is the current original “One man thousand”. [Go to YouTube and type in his name and you'll be flabbergasted at the variety of skills that he exhibits]

Dede tries also to beat everything in sight but he's not as ruthlessly smooth as Quincy and the earlier he takes Kojo Asamoah's position the better, for Dede is a lion's whelp and Kojo Asamoah's 1 goal in 24 outings gives me heart palpitations. Remember some sweet incisor pass of Utopian proportions that Derek Boateng breached the Brazilian defence with, and Inkoom couldn't 'chock' it first time to either score or set up Jordan Ayew, and the ball rolled on, and he now raised his head to search for Jordan and then attempted to give a left and he missed the ball and had to catch a fast 'aponkye brake' on the touch-line?

By then, the 'Zilians had recovered [I felt so ashamed: when koraa will we show that we too are authentic]. Oh my God, how he disgraced Derek, for I tell you the pass was 'higher heights'.He was pathetically bankrupt in innate fundamental soccer. You know how we have to tolerate half-baked players and high intelligence quotient soccer comes our way very rarely, and yet against intelligent Brazil, Derek is able to give a crisp long-range carpet incisor pass [to show that Ghana isn't so mediocre after all, how beautiful it was] which I had to doff my hat to and what complement did he get for his highly intelligent through-pass, that fake exhibition, and is it not Brazil who'll bring out your 'pretence'?


I truly feel that we still lack players with real sophistication; who know how to untie various knots. Some of our guys get by in the mini-games but are terribly exposed in the mega-games like I just harped on. Quincy, Dede, Derek, and Gyan have to be deployed at the same time and Coachie has to know how to juggle the Agyeman Badus, Muntaris and Annans.


Sometimes, (I think) Paintsil should send the pass sideways to the middle, where it will proceed to Quincy on the left. In the Nigeria match, when we were pelting them from the left and had to pass backward and then rightward to Paintsil who foraged upfield -- he always wants to go upfield when a sideways pass could do the trick -- from thence a fast pass should go to Quincy, who would have some space. For Paintsil has to give that sideways pass, as he feints, like he's surging forward, so that he distracts all their attention on the right wing. But these types of moves cannot be executed by Paintsil without him being told! No sophistication, yet the guy is always in the team, but who says a man cannot learn.


Truly we have to find that telepathic blend. For only the worthy win the African Cup of Nations. See ya. .

--
By KOFI AMOAKO DUODU
www.cameronduodu.com

body-container-line