Everybody seems to be carried away by the fluid display of soccer showcased by the "Black Stars of Oak" last Sunday against Nigeria that we have failed to do a thorough post-mortem of the match and proffer solutions to the way forward.

It is a fact that the local boys showed a lot of enthusiasm and commitment and the coach deserves commendation for the high tactical output of the team.

Indeed the players contested every ball and they did it so swiftly that the Super Eagles of Nigeria were not given any time to make any purposeful and constructive build up when they were in possession.

The work rate of every Ghanaian player was very high as they kept charging at the more experienced Eagles who had to resort to experience and physical superiority to contain them.

And whenever the "Black Stars of Oak" had possession they shuffled so quickly and moved into spaces so fast that it was easy for them to give and receive passes and threaten the Nigerian goal.

Added to this was the excellent defensive formation exhibited by the "back benches" who covered up effectively and moved quickly to intercept passes from the Nigerians.

Succinctly put, the Ghanaian team's performance was a fantastic display of attacking football, which unfortunately failed to produce even a goal to tell the story.

"It was fine, fine football without goals" my Nigerian friend, Mustapha Abdullai thus summed up the performance of the Stars. He added that if the Super Eagles had dominated the game the way the Stars did the result would have been a cricket score in favour of Nigeria.

Yes indeed the "Black Stars of Oak" scored higher grades in the statistics of the match but shared the points with the visitors thereby compounding our problems toward a World Cup berth.

The Stars created many scoring chances but fluffed them all and left the over 50 thousand soccer devotees who thronged the Accra Sports Stadium contended with a barren draw.

Association football is all about goals since marks are not awarded to teams for tactics, technique, commitment, cohesion and flair.

A good team is that which plays and scores goals and wins matches to gather points and triumph in group competitions. A good team is a winsome one. It scores more goals than it concedes no matter how badly or how well it plays.

A good team must have the character to upturn difficult situations, home and away and record victory.

Ghanaians need a good team. Ghanaians need a winsome team. We need a team that would translate a little advantage into goals or cause upsets even when it plays badly. I don't want to take anything away from the "Black Stars of Oak" for their bravado last Sunday.

But let me advise my good friend Jones Attuquayefio that the inclusion of about two or three committed Europe based players would have given us victory. Stephen Appiah, Eric Addo, Derrick Boateng and Peter Ofori Quaye, when he recovers, are good materials to supplement the home front and bring the smiles back to our faces.

Jones should not be swollen headed with a barren draw against Nigeria.

Ghanaians need a winsome team and if he cannot guarantee that he should throw in the towel before his record gets worse.