Last team standing

By Fiifi Anaman
When that final whistle went inside the Complexe Sportif de Fes in Morocco, Medeama had lost by two goals to one to Mas Fez, but they had won the two leg tie on a 4-2 aggregate. They had done theirs, and it was up to their counterparts to follow suit. But that didn't happen.

The two other Ghanaian clubs expected to raise high the club of the nation in continental competition the next day, Berekum Chelsea in the CAF Champions league against Al Ahly Benghazi in Tunisia and Ebusua Dwarfs in the CAF Confederations Cup against Petro Atletico in Angola, all succumbed to the painful feeling of failure.

And so by the time Monday morning had dawned, the press in Ghana ready to undertake the customary postmortem, Medeama were the last men standing, six weeks later after they had embarked on the quest with three other clubs.

“It is unfortunate that the three clubs in Africa have exited. It is not a fair reflection of how competitive our league is,” Medeama President Moses 'Mospacka' Armah told Kumasi-based Metro FM. “I think the teams have just not been lucky enough. All the teams in the Ghana Premier League are very good sides and perhaps deserve to do better in Africa.”

But it's one thing deserving to do better and actually doing better, and the reality has dawned on Medeama. They have been that side that has actually done better, and they now face a tough task at doing even better.

Now, they are alone. Now, the expectations have left everyone else's shoulders and have pitched camp on theirs. Now, the small club from the mining community of Tarkwa are Ghana's only hope. Ghana's only flagbearers amongst some of Africa's finest teams, across both the Champions League and the Confederations Cup.

It's a huge burden, but mood inside Tarkwa is lively, expectedly, with the locals daring to dream. Medeama are four matches and two rounds away from making the group stage of the CAF Confederations Cup, and it is impressive given they are first timers on a terrain notorious for knocking down rookies with it's harsh realities.

The Mauves have exceeded public expectations, sailing through the first two rounds (including beating former champions MAS Fez in their most recent round) with comfortable aggregate scores, and what was measured expectation seems set to morph into immense pressure, given all the attention they are about to get.

There have been four matches, three of which they have admirably gone beyond themselves to win, sparking pride amongst the Ghanaian football fandom. A 4-1 aggregate win against Equator Guineans The Panthers was followed by a 4-2 aggregate score against Moroccans Mas Fez, who won the competition three years ago.

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“Our achievements thus far have hinged on maturity, continuity and sacrifice,” says their South American coach Carlos Roberto Paulette. The Peruvian trainer took charge of the team barely eight weeks ago, but seems to have hit the ground running, reinvigorating the side. “I came in at a time when the players were down psychologically. But thankfully we were able to fix things quickly. We identified their potential and have been able to find a strategy to maximize it.”

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CRP, as his players call him, joined Medeama from Kumasi-based King Faisal, and has since overseen ten matches in all competitions, winning seven of them with two losses and a draw.  All these games have been played in the space of 43 days, with the players having to recover from each tiring game to play another in a grueling spell spanning an average of four days between games. Matches coming thick and fast.

“The players have adapted quickly to my philosophy,” he says. “We've had very little time in between matches, but the players have made a lot of hardworking contributions, giving everything they have match after match. And as you can see, the results are showing.”

In the league, CRP and his Medeama boys have made strides, chalking three wins, a draw and a loss which came against table toppers Kotoko. This run of form has seen them climb to third place on the league log, with their last big result came against Hearts of Oak, a 2-1 win at home. “We have instilled belief in the boys so they play with a lot more confidence now,” he says. “We aren't fazed by big teams anymore.”

Now, part of the 16 teams who will compete in the second round, three-time Zambian champions ZESCO United stand in between them and the last round of qualifying [the play-off stage, which will see losers from the third round of the CAF Champions league joining eight winners from this round], and Medeama will hope to tap into their new found defiance in order to overcome the task.

ZESCO are relative seniors in this competition, having participated three times before. The last time they competed, three years ago, they reached this stage of the competition and fell. This time, they want to go one better, which will be their best run ever in the competition. And that is what makes Medeama's task all the more mountainous.

Indeed, Medeama are massive underdogs going if many other things are considered. ZESCO, 34 years older than Medeama, come into the game with an impressive record: 13 trophies and three separate stints in the much more prestigious counterpart of this competition, the CAF Champions League.

Medeama have only one trophy to their credit in their six-year existence, but they know the game is not played on paper anymore.  ZESCO, though, have arrived in Ghana for the first leg knowing it won't be a walk in the park. Far from it.

Team Ya Ziko , as they are affectionately known in Zambia, received a bye into the second round, where they struggled to scrape through on a slim 1-0 aggregate against Mozambiquan Cup champions Clube Ferroviário da Beira. Medeama will look at that and are eye a comfortable home win, and its not beyond them, having won their two home ties at home scoring five goals without conceding.

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Ghana has not had a representative in the Group phase of the CAF Confederations Cup since 2008 – five years ago – when Kotoko bowed out of an insanely competitive group containing Tunisia's Etoile Sahel, Algeria's JS Kabylie and Sudan's Al Merreikh. With Medeama, there's a sense of the thrill of the group phase making an imminent return.

CRP doesn't seem carried away by the excitement. “We are taking each game at a time,” he says. “We believe we can achieve much more. Its all up to us for the taking.”

On Sunday, inside the Sekondi Essipong Stadium, Medeama's soldiers will march unto the pitch from the tunnels with a whole country vociferously behind them, stakes higher than ever, dreams craving continuation.

CRP and his Mauves are Ghana's last men standing, and they will need a lot of help to stay on their feet.

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