Ghana crash out of Olympic qualifiers

Ghana made an early exit from the 2012 London Olympics football qualifying competition on Saturday at Omdurman, Sudan.

Ramadan al-Agab gave the hosts an early lead after just nine minutes but Saddick Adams got the equalizer in the 62nd minute.

Two weeks ago, Ghana’s hopes of reaching the Olympics suffered a major setback after Sudan benefited from a 92nd minute goal in the first leg in Accra. The team which was made up of local-based players, except Samuel Affum, was criticized for not putting up a good performance.
It was expected that with the inclusion of four additional foreign-based players, made up of Ransford Osei, Jonathan Mensah, Saddiq Adams,and Quincy Osei, Ghana could have overturned the one nil deficit to qualify the team but that did not happen.
As if Ghana’s situation was not bad enough, Sudan netted the first goal on their home soil in the 10th minute of the first half. The bolstered Ghana team could not come on level terms in the first half. But the inclusion of the foreign-based players paid off in the second half, as Saddiq Adams equalized in the 20th minute of the second half.
At this point, Ghana needed a goal to qualify with 25 minutes to the end of the game. But the team faced stiff opposition from the less fancied Sudanese side who played with so much determination amidst a delaying tactics typical of African football to end the game in a 1-1 draw.
Ghana missed the previous Olympic Games in Beijing under veteran Coach Cecil Jones Atuquayefio. Coach Duncan will certainly not be spared the fury of football lovers especially coming after Ghana’s poor showing at the tournament for local based players on the continent (CHAN) under Coach Herbert Addo.
With the exception of the Senior National team the Black Stars, Ghana has in recent years underperformed at various levels of the game raising questions about the commitment of the football body to enhance the quality of local footballers who often play in such tournaments.

Line up: Joseph Addo Mohammed Sabato K Andoh Edwin Gyimah Quincy Osei Samuel Affum Edwin Gyimah Emmanuel Baffoe Jonathan Mensah Edward Kpodo Sadick Adam Ransford Osei