Soccer News of Monday, 4 February 2002
Source: .
Many soccer fans in Ghana have expressed their disappointment not only with the loss of their team, the Black Stars to the Super Eagles of Nigeria but more importantly, the performance of the team throughout the tournament.
Many of the fans have repeated that they were not expecting the team to go very far in the competition but were saddened about the performance of the team, which is expected to form the core of the Senior National Team in the nation’s team building process.
Already, soccer fans are calling for the head of the technical team of the Black Stars, whilst others are calling for the return of the senior players who were left out of the Mali squad. Some soccer analysts have been advocating for a complete shake-up of the entire management team and the keeping of the team, which they say, are young and promising.
Former team captain, Charles Akunnor whose is doubtful of playing for Ghana again as a result of the humiliating manner he was dropped from the Mali squad lashed at the preparation of the team for the tournament. According to him, it was clear from the beginning that the team was not going to go far in the competition. He however maintains that the current team has a lot of prospects and could do better if proper management and planning is put in place.
Other sports analysts have been calling for in the inclusion of the senior players to serve as motivation and reference point for the younger ones. They were not happy that the likes of Razak Ibrahim who was the main man in the Stars midfield has been given such a big role in a competition of this nature arguing that the poor performance of the team is capable of destroying the young and talented player.
Soccer fans are already calling for the head of head coach, Fred Osam Duodu. The veteran coach is likely to announce his resignation before he is axed from the position.
Although Ghanaians were not expecting too much from the team, they were expecting it to do better than they did at the tournament. Nigeria last Sunday defeated Ghana 1-0 in the clash of the West African archrivals to reach the semi-final of the Nations Cup.