FEATURE: This Nation Is Tired of Excuses

..For The Attention Of Ben Koufie And His Coach
I am getting uncomfortable with the streak of blame and counter blame coming from people who should accept responsibilities for the painful 1-0 loss the Black Stars of Ghana conceded to the Cranes of Uganda in the first match of the national team?s campaign to qualify for the 2004 African Cup of Nations championship in Tunisia.

I am of the firm conviction that there is no cause to blame anybody. The Black Stars lost simply because we were not prepared enough. It was the first game under Yugoslav Coach Milan Zivadinovic. The Ugandan tie was the very first time that players of the national soccer team were loosening up in national colours after the rancour and bitterness of the Black Stars campaign in CAN 2002 in Mali.

The score-line 0-1, to me is not the end of the world. What is important is for the Ghana Football Association, the coach and the players to put the defeat behind them and rally for the rest of their qualifying matches. That is why I am disappointed in the way FA Chairman Ben Koufie is handling the defeat. I am terribly shocked by his assertion that the failure of the national soccer team in Kampala stems from the government?s failure to provide cash and logistical support to enable the Black Stars play a number of matches before emplaning for the game in Uganda.

According to state-run Ghanaian Times, the Chairman of the FA ?blamed the inability of the senior national team to shine in far away Uganda on the failure of Government to provide the wherewithal for the training of the team.? He was said to have compared the seven matches their opponents played in the run-up to their tie in Kampala against the inability of the Black Stars to honour any engagement before Kampala.

He said the Government should pump more money into the development of the game ?if we want to re-capture our glorious days.? The GFA boss was launching the football association?s five-year development programme, his baby in Takoradi.

I am afraid I do not agree with Uncle Ben. One of the major assignments the FA Chairman has given himself is to try and steer football administration to be autonomous. I do not think the road to autonomy lies in running to the government for money to play friendly matches. I would like to believe the FA could arrange friendly matches without the Government pumping money into the venture. Instead of thinking of a high-profile engagements in Yugoslavia, Turkey or any other European experience, the Black Stars should have lined up against Togo, Cote D?Ivoire or any of our neighbouring countries who would not ask for a king?s ransom to play the Black Stars.

In any case, when the assignment on hand is against an African national team, what is the rational in going to Europe to prepare? It is waste of resources. Tactically, European nations, with their aggression have quite a distinctive style of play from the African game, which emphasize skill, but with a slow build-up.

I have problems with the way the Ministry of Youth and Sports has handled sports promotion in general. For instance, the way, they failed to utilize the fiscal vote from the Ministry of Finance earlier enough for the contingent to the Manchester Games to organize trials was reprehensible. But I do not believe the FA should blame the ministry for the Black Stars? defeat. Fact is the build-up to the Ugandan engagement was shoddy and I expect the FA Chairman, a man with a very big heart to accept responsibility.

I cannot be sure whether or not Milan Zivandinovic is the right person to handle the technical build-up of the national team. I have the hunch that he has a very big problem with English language. His communication is not the very best. But he could learn. And that is one area, I thought the FA could help.

I believe too that the coach would do with clear-cut guidelines on his assignment. I remember one thing that the former SWAG President Oheneba Charles did while a member of the GFA, which could inform the current FA on how they relate to their new coach.

With the blessing of the association, Oheneba Charles wrote as a guideline for coach Guissepe Dossena. It included a history of the Ghanaian football scene, the likely problems he would encounter and suggestions on how to relate to the FA, the sports ministry and a bit about the current crop of footballers knocking on the doors of Black Stars. I do not think anybody did a study into how the document aided the Italian coach. But I would like to believe that it aided Dossena to understand the terrain he is operating in.

I do not believe Milan Zivadinovic has a clue about the nuances that really shape our game. If he does, I do not believe he would launch into an attack against the FA after the mess of a training programme in Yugoslavia that failed to come alive.

I still believe the lone goal defeat is something anybody should lose sleep over. What is important is for authorities to create the right atmosphere to avoid any more disasters against Rwanda and Uganda in the return engagement at the Accra Sports Stadium.

I believe Ghana will qualify for the 2004 African Cup of Nations Championship in Tunisia. But that is not what the average Ghanaian soccer fan is expecting. We are looking to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. That is the goal that should be achieved at all cost.

I will like to believe it is the global assignment that informed the signing of Coach Milan Zivadinovic. The qualification to CAN 2004 is only an avenue to test the battle readiness of the national team. After the achievement of Senegal in the Korea/Japan world Cup of 2002, it would be suicidal for this country that pioneered the game in Africa south of the Sahara to miss out once more.

The GFA has an assignment. I will like to believe that they are aware that qualifying the Black Stars to Tunisia 2004 is only incidental to the bigger stage event of Germany 2006. And that is why I believe instead of the misplaced accusations against the Ministry of Youth and Sports or government; they would examine themselves and satisfy themselves that they have what it takes to lead this nation?s soccer revolution.

One area the FA could work on is reportage of international matches. No sports journalist was on the official trip to Uganda and I thought that was not in the interest of the FA itself. A newsman would capture the circumstances leading to the loss better than the shifting of blame that is becoming the revolving door at the FA.

It could be argued that the Football Association owed the media no favours. That is perfectly true. But it is also a fact that the media owe no obligation to tell the FA side of the story from distorted lenses. That is why in the past, it was made obligatory for all sporting contingents to competitions outside the country to go along with sports journalists.

As it is, the true story of the Uganda failure would never be told. Instead, there would only be speculation for company in the media.

I would like to sell the idea to the GFA to think seriously of working out a mechanism that would enable sports journalists, from the state media, at least, to be part of official football contingent traveling outside the country.

The task ahead is enormous. Expectations are high. That is why the FA and all its affiliate bodies need to put themselves in the driving seat to bring honours. The world of Ghana football would not like to be given excuses for failure on the world stage once more. We have a dream. It is simply to go to the World Cup. Let nothing become a hindrance.