AFCON 2015: Win or Bust for Black Stars

By Sammie Frimpong

The interest is picking up.

Perhaps only subliminally so, but it is picking up nonetheless and would do so some more as Equatorial Guinea 2015 beckons.

Gradually, the number of TV and radio sets sparking alive when the Black Stars play post Brazil-2014 is increasing, and it is up to the players to make it count.

Some five months have passed since the saddening - and maddening - events that marred the Stars' campaign at the World Cup earlier this year, and time, ever the great healer, seems to have eased some of the pain that resulted.

The culmination of the first stage of the ensuing recovery process saw the Stars seal qualification to next year's Nations Cup on Wednesday, courtesy a 3-1 win over Togo.

On a night when the steadily developing theory that clean sheets are now rarer commodities in Ghana than electricity was further confirmed and Emmanuel Adebayor's bullying instincts were in full flow, Ghana needed just a point to sail through but got an easy three, with its eastern neighbors too willing to be trampled on.

A fourth headed international goal for Majeed Waris, Mubarak Wakaso's 35-yard screamer, and a deflected effort claimed by Agyemang Badu did justify the players' joyous laps-of-honour inside the arena when proceedings ended.

It was indeed a delight to watch, especially seeing injured regular skipper Asamoah Gyan boosting morale from the sidelines, and was quite reminiscent of the good old days when fans and the players actually cared about each other.

Now, though, to the hard part; the part where they attempt to complete the redemption process.

Given the magnitude and ramifications of the fiasco that occurred at the Mundial, it would take more than such routine victories and rousing sentiments to win Ghanaians over and have them cheering wildly once more.

It would take, at the very least, the 2015 Afcon crown to do so.

Considering that this team - one very much in transition, courtesy the exits for varying reasons of some of its more experienced members in recent months - is still fairly young and largely unproven, that feat would take some doing.

Still, Ghanaians want no more - and no less, in fact - than to savour glory in a competition the country last conquered nearly 33 years ago. This time, near-misses and semi-final appearances just wouldn't suffice. No excuses either.

Thankfully, the Stars have more going for them than is apparent. Ignore the yet widespread apathy for a moment, and it's easy to see the blessings there are to be counted.

The momentum seems to be soaring already, a new home has been found (although the Tamale support would have a hard time matching Kumasi for numbers and intensity), the fresh additions made to the team by interim head coach Maxwell Konadu (and, before him, the departed Kwesi Appiah) have helped create a hungrier collective, while the imminent confirmation of a new substantive trainer represents the dawn of a new era - one whose outcome would pique the interest of many of the Stars' presently alienated countrymen.

And while most would feign insulation from the relatively minimal excitement triggered by isolated international fixtures, few could be truly immune to the month-long fever set to grip a soccer-mad land like Ghana as the Africa Cup of Nations beckons.

Come 17 January - 8 February, Ghanaians would be watching, expecting, and hoping the team don't disappoint again. Going by recent standards, a mere incident-free experience would be appreciated but, while at it, the lads would do well to bring the ultimate home.

Really, it isn't too much to ask, is it?