If the performance by a makeshift Black Stars against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night is anything to judge Milvan Rajevac by, then it was the genesis of a prediction made by his compatriot, Milosavljevic Zavisa, when the two 'Milos' clashed at Sekondi last Saturday.
In a post-match interview, Zavisa who led the Lesotho team was full of respect for Rajevac, describing his countryman as a top coach who has what it takes to do a quality job for Ghana.
“You wait and see, he is a top coach and he will build a good team for Ghana,” Zavisa predicted in his limited English.
Barely four days later, signs of that 'prophecy' began to show when Rajevac paraded a second string side against the 2010 World Cup hosts in an international friendly in front of a partisan home crowd which roared the whole night.
Though the Stars lost 1-2, they were not disgraced as they scored first and did not seem overawed by the intimidating atmosphere and the tough opposition from the more-experienced South African spearheaded by tried and tested Benny McCarthy, Aaron Mokoena and man-of-the-match, Matthew Booth.
Despite an early setback after Holland-based Kwame Quansah was stretchered off through injury in his debut, the Ghanaians shocked the home fans after 38 minutes when Haminu Draman, who led the Stars in the absence of the regular players except Harrison Afful, managed to cook a chance for Liberty Professionals striker, Yaw Antwi, to tap home with cheeky ease.
However, the South Africans reacted swiftly three minutes later when McCarthy capitalised on a defensive lapse to beat goalkeeper Fatau Dauda for the equaliser.
As the Ghanaians grew in confidence in the second half and continued to match their opponents in the midfield, substitute Bernard Parker ghosted past his markers to head home the match winner from a corner kick in the 78th minute.
The defeat nothwithstanding, the match largely served its purpose as it offered Coach Rajevac the chance to assess some new players.
Story by Samuel Ebo Kwaitoo
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