Rejoinder: The Squad List and Noises

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I just read an article by Godwin Yaw Agboka (USA) concerning the list of players for the upcoming world cup which happens to be the first time Ghana is making an appearance. I enjoyed reading everything you said and I do agree with you. The bottom line is we should rally behind the coach and the players and fly high the flag of mother Ghana.

I would like to re-enforce some of the points made in the article. For example the issue with Strikers is overwhelming. We cannot play defensive game, not in the world cup and definitely not at a time when we have been victims to the same type of play (Egypt 2006). I am not a coach, soccer analyst or anything like that but my common sense tells me that the defense and the midfield are going to be tired if the opponent keeps pressing which may lead to defeat. We need more Strikers. We should not depend on just a few. I think we need to consider injury, red, yellow cards etc which are all part of the game and take enough Strikers. I am not vying for any particular player but I think we need those with stamina and the endurance to be a thorn in the flesh of the opponent. I have personally seen Baba Armando (Agona Swedru All Blacks) and those who have also seen him play will agree with me that this guy is a thorn in the flesh of his opponents. If this guy still has that ability, then I do not see why he should be left out especially when he has been with the team in Egypt and Mexico 2006.

Excuses (few of which are genuine) are the cankerworms eating the very flesh of Ghana Soccer. We have made it gain so much roots in our society (like the 'Acheampong' weed) that it is very difficult to kill it.

Our Players, Soccer Leaders etc have created this vacuum making it easy for our foreign coaches to use it to the detriment of our nation?s soccer dreams.

To mention a few, I do not see any justification in dropping a player just because he does not have a club especially when such player has been with your on all major tournaments. Our leaders need to grow up and ratify some of these issues before it gets out of hand. We do not want long consoling speeches when everything has gone wrong. We need to fix it and fix it now.

Our players should also respect their leaders and not resort to the press and other means in bringing out their grievances. I think the best way is go through the proper channel so that it doesn?t bring any ?Abedi-Yeboah sentiment?. Players should refrain from all kinds of pride, selfishness and other attitudes that will undermine the very purpose of their profession.

The profession is a team work and without working together, such a player cannot achieve his/her dream let alone the profession he/she falls in. Respect is a two-way thing. In order for our players to earn the respect they deserve from spectators and especially their leaders (coaches, leaders, management etc), they first need to give that respect. The game of soccer is a love game and anything other than the love of the game makes one a loser in the first place. I hope our players, spectators, leaders and those entrusted with it will look at it in this way other than their personal gains.

Many will agree with me that there are many lesions we still have not learned from previous experiences. We continue to make similar mistakes over and over again. We need to put a stop to these mistakes and change the way we do things. The world is changing and so we should move with the changes. Mistakes sometimes happen for us to learn a new way of doing things (Egypt 2006). We should not sit down for the same or similar mistakes to happen again.

I do not expect something extraordinary from our players (Glory be to God if it does; I will be the first to thank them) and neither do I expect anything similar to Egypt 2006. We must not forget that First impression is mostly the last impression. All I want (and so are many Ghanaian fans especially those of us in the US ARMY) is that we fly high the flag of MOTHER GHANA !!!!.