Joy Sports Ghana football review: Jan-June 2015

After bringing to you a review of the major sporting events in the first six months of the year, Joy Sports zooms further into football in Ghana. In this #JoySports special wrap, we highlight the major football events in Ghana and that which the various national teams were involved in.

AFCON 2015
The 30th edition of the continent’s premier cup competition initially scheduled for Morocco, but later played in Equatorial Guinea was especially important for Ghana’s Black Stars. This was because the team wanted redemption following its shameful appearance at the last major tournament, Brazil 2014.

It was also important because it was the first major test for Ghana’s new coach, Avram Grant. The Israeli had been appointed six weeks to the start of the tournament.

Before the games
Ghana captain, Asamoah Gyan had contracted malaria ahead of the competition and many pundits believed Grant’s decision to take him along to the competition was a risky one. There was also the controversy of travelling to Spain for preps. Was the Mediterranean climate a good idea given that the tournament was slated for tropical Equatorial Guinea?

The topsy turvy story
Ahead of the competition, there was little interest in the Black Stars’ campaign. Apart from the public’s animosity following Brazil 2014, the country had been plunged into a bitter electricity crisis which saw many miss some games.

A 2-1 loss to Senegal in the opening group game did little to help the team sway public support. Many on Ghana's social media space blatantly wished for the team to fail and were happy at the result. This very un-Ghanaian attitude from fans towards their much-beloved team must have spoken volumes to the players as in their next game, Gyan - after mildly recovering from malaria - scored a dramatic 89th minute goal to win the game for Ghana 1-0.

Ghana's next game saw the Stars’ triumph over South Africa, 2-1. The team’s progress into the knockout stage saw a slight return of positive vibes from Ghanaians.

Ghana seemed to be on a good run after recording an impressive 3-0 win over Guinea in the quarters.

The bubble seemed destined for a bust after a gruesome attack from Guinea goal keeper, Naby Yattara on the Stars skipper. This was close to the end of the game when Ghana was already leading by three goals. Gyan was forced to miss the semi-final with the hosts.

The madness of the hosts
That match marred all the successes the country had achieved; hosting a continental tournament with less than three months of preparation. The home fans pelted the Ghana team with bottles and other objects as the team made their way to the dressing room after half time when Ghana was leading by two unanswered goals.

With police protection, the team came back onto the field and scored another goal. The Ghana fans at this point were being attacked by the home fans. The supporters were forced to abandon their seats and come just behind one of the goal posts to escape the objects being thrown at them. The match resumed after about a half-an- hour break.

Ghana went on to the final to face neighbours the Ivory Coast. After 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time, it had to be settled on penalties. After the Ivorians had missed their first two penalties, it was assumed Ghana was on its way to win a title after three decades of trying.

Or so we thought.
Ghana let that opportunity slip when both Afriyie Acquah and Frank Acheampong missed their penalties. Almost a repetition of the 1992 final, it went all the way to 17 kicks.

A visibly reluctant Ghana keeper, Razak Braimah, fell for the cunning antics of opposition goalie; Bubakar Barry who faked injury right before Braimah’s kick.

Between the time it took for his medics to attend to him and the kick, the mind game seemed to have worked as Braimah missed. A miraculously recovered Barry stepped up and hit home to win the cup for the Elephants for a second time in a 9-8 penalty shootout.

Once again, Ghanaian hearts were broken because of penalty kicks.

After
Aside the silver medal, Ghana came out with many of the tourney’s individual awards. An inconsolable Dede Ayew won highest goal scorer with three goals and two assists; Christian Atsu with the player of the tournament and newcomer Kwesi Appiah won the Fair Play Award.

Some of the stand-out players from the competition on the Ghana team side were midfielders Mubarak Wakaso and Afriyie Acquah and youngster Baba Rahman. The trio with their brilliant performances appear to have cemented their place in the Ghana squad of Avram Grant.

The competition proved that Christian Atsu was not an over-rated player but one that needed more play time especially at his club.

Equatorial Guinea were unsurprisingly handed a meagre punishment of one closed door home match and a $100,000 fine.

After all, they saved CAF from the embarrassment of not being able to stage its showpiece event.

Local Black Stars
With the senior team coming so close in the Afcon, it was expected that the CHAN team will do Ghana proud in the COSAFA Cup in May. Despite the impressive run of the senior men’s team, the local Black Stars prematurely exited the COSAFA Cup as an invitee after playing just one game. Disaster all round.

Hearts, Kotoko crash out of Africa
The First Capital Plus Premier League was not short of drama. In February, Hearts of Oak stunned arch rivals Asante Kotoko at the latter’s home grounds. Didi Dramani was shown the door after the 1-0 loss to Hearts.

During Didi’s reign, the Porcupines had won two league titles and an FA cup. He was replaced by David Duncan who had not won any major title. But Kotoko’s woes continued as the club crashed out of the CAF Champions League once again.

After the El Eulma game in which they crashed out, a GFA Status Committee member, Kofi Manu aka Blue Blue, alleged that the players do not give themselves the necessary rest. He asserted that the players spent their nights “making calls, browsing the web and [most importantly] watching porn.”

Great Olympics continued their woeful Premier League campaign despite the return of football “veterans” Richard Kingson, Godwin Attram and Dan Quaye.

On the upside, the Accra-derby proved it had the potential of pulling a big crowd - by Ghanaian standards - as an impressive 15,000 fans thronged the national stadium to watch Hearts and Olympics play a thrilling goalless draw game.

The U20s
The Men’s under-20 team went to Senegal for the Africa Youth Championship where they got the bronze medal. Their semi-final finish ensured an automatic entry into the World Cup in New Zealand. After topping their group, the Satellites faced Senegal in the Round of 16 where they lost 3-0 to the Senegalese.

Despite the disappointing finish, some members of Ghana’s squad have been spotted for their brilliance. They include Clifford Aboagye, goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi and skipper Owusu Bempah. World Cup winning coach, Sellas Tetteh, continues to enjoy the Football Association’s support despite calls for his sacking from some quarters.

Black Queens, Meteors in AAG
Although, the Black Meteors qualified to play in the All Africa Games along with the Black Queens, they have failed to make it to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

The Queens are still in contention, though as they have some qualifiers to play.

Brazil 2014 ghost haunts
The Presidential Commission set up to look into Ghana’s bad showing at Brazil 2014 presented its findings. But before then, the government released a White Paper in which it rejected some of the commission’s findings, including a call for former Sports Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah to refund misappropriated monies.

Elvis, who cried at a commission sitting in 2014, vehemently denied wrongdoing. The Ghana FA accused the Dzamefe Commission of “witch-hunting” and threatened legal actions after some damning allegations were made about them.

The FA is unhappy that the commission described an Equipment Officer, who was paid 100, 000 dollars, as a “ball boy” in order to provoke public outcry.

The 399 page report, which would set anyone interested in reading it back 120 cedis, remains contentious as it has come under fire from many analyst for merely exposing graft in the football administration (which is unsurprising to ordinary Ghanaians) but failed to proffer solutions to the identified.

ALSO..
The six month period also saw former skipper Stephen Appiah hang his boots in a well-attended send-off game in Accra. Appiah, 34, is however expected to continue in the game on the technical side.

Andre Ayew, who took over Appiah’s number 10 shirt, signed a transfer move from his boyhood club, Marseille to Swansea City where he would taste EPL action for the first time.

Jones bows out
The period unfortunately saw the passing away of a man credited for the rise of many of Ghana’s footballing giants. Cecil Jones Attuquayefio was part of the Ghana team that won the 1965 Africa Cup of Nations. The coaching legend was responsible for the grooming of the likes of Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien and Kwadwo Asamoah. Jones died aged 70 in Accra after battling throat cancer.

He died on May 12.
Let's not forget how a redeemed Black Stars beat visiting Mauritius 7-1 in June during Afcon 2017 qualifiers. The game saw first international goals for Jeffery Schlupp and David Accam.

Wonder what the next six months will bring us? July - December will definitely give us even more headlines.

Kwasi Gyamfi is with the #JoySports team. Follow on Twitter @KG_Asiedu. Get more with the #JoySports hashtag on Facebook/Twitter. Additional reporting by Gary Al-Smith

Story by Ghana/Joy Sports/Kwasi Gyamfi & Gary Al-Smith