Rejoinder: The Squad List and Noises

I wish to react to the above article posted on your web site last week and dilate on some of the issues raised. I found loads of contradictions and also lack of congruence in the writer's soi-disant analysis. In one breadth he begrudges Ghanaians for voicing dissatisfaction over the team selection, and in another, he himself indulges in the same thing. He expressed grave concerns about striking options of the team, poor plans being made and the potential for disaster and then calls on Ghanaians to lend support to the woeful decisions by the Black Stars handlers.

Before I go on let me note that there are two types of Ghanaians. Those who can easily forget Black Stars defeats and move on. Then there are those whose heart still ache from the pain of Tlemcen and Bochum. If you belong to the latter group, your heart must be pounding very hard as we go into this World Cup.

Now to Mr Agboka?s article. First, for him to say people have taken to the streets because their favorite player has been left out suggests he completely misunderstands the issues at stake. Is it because of Baba Armando?s performance (which the writer himself alluded to) that makes people clamour for his inclusion or merely because he is somebody?s favourite player? The writer himself states inter alia ?I wonder if his [Doya?s] argument about the player?s [Armando] inability to find a club [which is why he was left out] is fair and sound considering that there are even some players who feature for some clubs but who never tasted any action the whole of the season, for their teams. Isn?t it ironic that the club-less player is the one who got most of the goals for the team this year? He scored in the pre-ANC friendlies, scored a consolation goal in the Stars? match against Zimbabwe, and was the only real threat when the Black Stars played Mexico. Should we believe that there is more we have to know as far the relationship between the coach and Armando is concerned? ?

So if this writer himself raises questions as to what may be keeping Armando out of the squad i.e. the Coach?s relationship with the player, then what is his beef about people demonstrating over same? The writer talked about Erickson and Scolari dropping Shaun Wright-Philips and Romario respectively . And that ?hell did not break loose.? A clear case of comparing apples to bananas. Those countries are a different kettle of fish. Brazil and England and Holland etc had/have a superfluity of talent. The pedigree of England and Brazil is such that they can afford to drop any quality player. Ghana?s squad on the other hand has a player who in Doya?s own words ?sits in the public? to watch his club play. Our situation is so desperate that Doya went asearching in second and third division clubs for strikers for our World Cup debut. Against this background, dropping a player whose striking performance - the writer himself attests to - cannot be compared with cases involving Brazil and England.

We are in a desperate fix. Again the performance of Brazil under Scolari and England under Eriksson prior to they dropping those players have not been as questionable and as miserable as in our case and therefore there was no cause to demonstrate. For us, our country has been so humiliated by its national team by flopping miserably in a major competition on last January. So when a player who consistently comes on as a sub to score is dropped, it is a big, big deal and there is certainly a big cause for concern or demonstrations!

He also wrote ?the coach seemed to have made a good argument about Armando?s lack of commitment to the team? Gosh! What was the good argument?

That Armando said he had no Schengen visa to travel for the Nice/Stutgart games and therefore was not committed to the Black Stars?

Did anyone accept that?? Ridiculous! When a player is needed in a friendly international in Europe, is it the player?s responsibility to secure visa or the GFA?s?

Who should be blamed if Armando could not get a visa? Isn?t it interesting that after his performance - alluded to by the writer himself- his commitment can be questioned on such flimsy grounds? In the fourth paragraph, the writer states ?It seems the Stars? disastrous encounter at the just ended African cup of nations, which witnessed one of the poorest performances from the team, has not offered any lessons.? Now if it is clear to him that no lesson has been learnt, how on earth does he fail to understand when people take to the streets for fear of the mistakes at CAN 2006 being repeated at the Mundial?

And if it is clear that no lessons have been learnt, and that he himself is worried about what may happen to the team due to poor decisions, from where does he draw the courage to call on Ghanaians to have faith and rally behind a team he himself calls ?imbalanced??? Now to sign off let me say the notion that it is the absolute prerogative of the coach to decide who plays in the squad must be rejected. Completely! When a coach chalks up a winning streak that is a different matter. There, no one dares question him. But when the coach flops so spectacularly as Doya did at a major tourney like CAN 2006, his view on players selection cannot under such circumstances be considered sacrosanct. The minimum he can do is to listen to what others say and not trust solely on his instincts. The operative word here is LISTEN.

Examples abound for us to learn from. In 1990, in the wisdom of the very experienced coach of Cameroon, Roger Milla did not fit in his squad. The President, a layman in soccer terms, heeded the cry of the people and insisted that Milla be included in the team. Again in 2002, the coach thought Mboma was not good for the national squad. The public thought otherwise, the president of the country heeded their cry. Mboma got back in the team. In both instances the players concerned became the heroes of the tournament!

The writer also wrote ?In what country and in which part of the world do players have the right to choose who they want to play with?? This was an allusion to Stephen Appiah?s lamentations about the exclusion of Baba Armando. Here again the writer shows lack of understanding of the issues. Appiah only expressed his candid opinion (albeit we agree should not have been made over the radio.) He was not exercising any right or claiming any right to choose players. With Appiah being an influential and core member of the team, surely his views matter, more than most of us lay men on the street.

On the 14 may 2006 edition of "Road to Germany" on Metro-TV hosted by Y. Ampofo-Ankrah, Doya's own words was that Baba Armando was a "very good player" Now if he concedes he is a very good player and yet excludes him from the squad because he has no club (a completely false assertion, swallowed hook, line and sinker by GFA), what does that tell you.? Were Paolo Rossi and Roger Milla playing active club football prior to WC 1982 and 1990 respectively? This year 4 clubless players are going to WC, one of them being a captain. What does this say to Ghanaians? Is it the performance of a player that matters or his club status? In the above-mentioned programme on Metro TV, Doya also gave the excuse that Armando is not currently fit and will fail fitness test, if he was subjected to it. See? These are reasons we are supposed to accept and shut up. So what is the training regime before the World Cup supposed to do? Is it not to improve fitness of all the players etc before the world cup? Currently are Doya's own beloved strikers; Matthew Amoah and Asamoah Gyan fully fit?

To conclude I wish to advice to Baba Armando. Do not let the clamour for your inclusion make you swollen headed. Your talent is evident for all who understand football. Be humble and don?t whine. Even if the coach makes you a ball boy in the Stars camp accept it as a privilege and do it diligently. Some one said if the Coach is against you who can be for you. Posterity will be the judge. If Nyantakyi and co were discerning enough they would know that Doya is not a coach to whom they must entrust absolute control of Black Stars during major tournaments. Doya still lives in the past and has not moved on after we qualified for the WC. He still goes around talking about having qualified Ghana for the World Cup.

As for the GFA they have probably already prepared their long list of excuses to give for failure, so naturally they don?t mind failing at all. They will do nothing while there are clear signs that Doya has a bone to pick with Baba Armando, the only player who gave him a face saving goal within 6 minutes coming on as a substitute when his preferred strikers had played 85 minutes with nothing to show for. Even Sammy Kuffuor would not have been in the team by now had it not been public outcry. Some have forgotten.

Well I am not an authority in these matters or pretend to be so forgive me for any offense. However there is one thing I know for certain! That is, by the time our campaign finally comes to an end in Germany, come what may, quoi qu?il advienne, as the french say, GFA officials would have made loads of money (per diems etc etc and you-know what). Doya would also have made loads of money out of Ghana, to last him a lifetime. What I am not certain of is whether the long list of painful and humiliating outings we have suffered as Ghanaians from Tunis to Tlemcen, and from Bochum to Burkina..., will grow taller or recede from our minds. Should another Bochum befall us, Doya to simply forget about Ghana Black Stars and sip champagne with his wife in far away Serbia-Montenegro, while we shed tears into our beers.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.