England –Ghana –Essien Saga and Other Issues Arising

I woke up this morning to some interesting news related to the England –Ghana match. Firstly, and I am sure we all know that, the match is a complete sell-out. The English FA are delighted. They are going to make roughly 10 million pounds from this match alone. I am yet to know how much Ghana will earn. Part of this money, of course will go towards completing their centre of excellence in Burton which they hope will help improve skills in their youth.

It amazes me how poor the English are when it comes to football skills. This is an example of a situation where over-development probably works against you. Their weather doesn’t help of course. Take a walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the UK and you will find a group of boys playing football, all well dressed in nice jerseys and boots with their parents waiting by the sideline and a paid coach in the centre. You naively walk up to enquire if your boys can join in, and you are given a phone number to call and register to join some other time. So I cast my mind back on the football we used to play in our backyard. You were actually lucky if you had a proper football. Nobody was barred, unless of course, if you had had a fight with the ball owner. Twenty of us would play in a little space and you were thankful for every touch. You instinctively learnt to control the ball, dribble and keep the ball to yourself from a very early age. Of course we never learned to shoot, and that shows in some of our professionals as well. Where we played, if you shot too hard, the ball would probably end up in Mr Alhassan’s wife’s soup. There was neither coach nor referee. You learned to kick and be kicked and generally look after yourself. That is one reason why, man-for man, the Black Stars are technically better than the English. Of course we all know that being technically gifted does not always win you football matches.

For the match against Ghana, I heard today, that the England coach Fabio Capello is considering re-instating John Terry as permanent captain. This is a controversial decision. As we recall. John Terry was stripped of the captaincy after having an affair with the former partner of a team mate. The public humiliation he endured was well-deserved. And yet, to the credit of the guy, he has since then, always made himself available to play for his country and performed to the best of his ability, even though some believe his weary legs are giving way. Good luck to him if he gets the captaincy back. It would be a reward for patriotism and dedication. Talking of patriotism and dedication, John Paintsil, in the same news item about the England-Ghana match was asked about how difficult it must be to balance club and national commitments. He gave a very wise answer. He said, that the reason why most of them got to play in Europe and in the premiership in the first place was because of the national team. They therefore owed a certain level of commitment to the national course. Well said John.

There are some players who play for their national teams for years and then decide at some point, in order to prolong their careers, to concentrate on club football. Football fans round the world respect that. Stephen Appiah has done it. Ryan Giggs has done it. Paul Scholes has done it. We have no problem with that. Michael Essien’s wish to be given a “break” from the national team when he is performing consistently for his club, however, is most annoying to say the least. A break till when? Is it till when the next big tournament comes? Is it to allow the mental scars of getting wounded in Africa to heal? What is it? Paul Scholes owes England nothing. He joined Manchester United as a school kid and has played there all his life. And yet he insists, he would probably have changed his mind if Capello had spoken to him. He is only human. He wants to feel loved. So I must commend our coach for taking the trouble to visit Michael Essien and trying to win his confidence and affection. But that should be it. Michael Essien should come and play our next match or be kicked out from the national team for good. As John Paintsil implied, he is where he is because of the national teams and not the other way round. There are boys in my village that can play better than Essien’s awkward bravado in midfield. Getting in the national junior team is everything in Ghana and we can only take so many players at a time. Essien was lucky. He should be saying a prayer for Ghana every morning.

Let’s face it; we got to the final of the African cup without Essien. We got to the quarter finals of the world cup without Essien. While it is important that we bring all our best players on board, this should not be at the expense of team spirit and discipline. What message do we give the other players when it appears we are falling backwards to ensure one player plays against his will? Look at Anthony Annan. He is now a constant for Shalke 04 except for the Champion’s League where he is cup-tied. Prince Boateng is performing brilliantly for AC Milan. Ayew is winning praises from the likes of Ferguson. What about Kwadwo Asamoah and Agyemang Badu in Udinese? Who needs Essien?

In the end, team spirit is what brings results, over and above the brilliance of any one particular player. Lionel Messi, arguably the best player the world has ever seen played for Argentina in the world cup and what happened? Eto’o, the Cameroonian superstar arrived at the world cup in style – with ten thousand pound wrist watches for each of his team mates, and what happened. It has never been and will never be about one man. Olele!! Good old Olele! What can I say? Olele has had a rather difficult time in England, to say the least. He was the initial beneficiary of Steve Bruce’s love of Ghana when he signed him for Birmingham. He later moved with him to Wigan. In both of these clubs, Olele was only a third choice goalkeeper. Indeed, when Steve Bruce left Birmingham acrimoniously, the owners accused him of signing “waste of space” players like Richard Kingson. When Steve Bruce left Wigan to coach Sunderland, Olele’s contract in Wigan was not renewed and we all thought his carrier was over. Then a splendid performance at the world cup, against all the odds, brought him into the limelight again and he was signed for Blackpool by Ian Holloway.

Olele was signed for Blackpool as a reserve goalkeeper. But when the number one got injured, it was an opportunity to show what he was made of and prove his critics wrong. The problem, though, was that Ian Holloway knows only one way of playing – attack!! attack!! and attack!! This means poor old Olele is left with virtually no defensive protection and the goals are going in their fours and fives. Inevitably, attention is drawn to the goalkeeper and people begin to question his competence. I pray he does not lose his confidence and continues to believe in himself.

Anyway, I will be going to the England –Ghana match. This is more than a friendly. Always nice to be able to stick one up your colonial masters. I will let you know wha t I see. We all pray for a Ghana victory.

Papa Appiah

Lexeve1@yahoo.co.uk