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?prove the critics wrong

Many are called but few are chosen, says an old English compatriot but the adage is somewhat pertinent to the situation regarding Duya and his 23-man squad.

Every Ghanaian soccer player would have wished to be in Germany. Alas, only 23 can go, according to the governing body, and almost every one outta five Ghanaians would think otherwise regarding Duya?s man selection. All we can say to our men is that, God be with them and we are looking up unto them to prove all the critics wrong, to justify all the confidence reposed in them by Duya and the GFA, to make Ghana and themselves proud, and to reap all the wonderful dividends that come with the much-anticipated good performance. They should remember beating Italy, Czech or the USA is no exceptional feat, and never will it be a more interesting and shocking news than the Teranga Lions? victory over the then world champions France, never would Ghana?s cruise to the quarter finals make more headlines than did Greece?s European conquest in 2004. Nothing would be special about Ghana?s conquest of its first five outta the seven overall opponents as eventual finalists.

Now is the time?to die for the Nation all were expecting to see at the mundial, the Nation Sir Stanley Rous, Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter have all longed to see at the world tourney. FIFA has accorded Ghana so much respect and prominence in world football and we need to justify that. Now is the time.

Ghana?s son, Michael Essien is the player whose picture it is u see, boldly printed on the front cover of the May edition of the FIFA Magazine, and in Ghana Colors, not of Chelsea (http://www.fifa.com/en/regulations/magazine/index.html). Can our 23-man squad appreciate the respect and prominence? Is Essien better than Makelele, Drogba or even Frank Lampard? Is Ghana better than Ivory Coast, England or France? Our 23-man team must always remember that ?to whom much is given, much is expected?. FIFA expects Ghana to do more than what the Teranga Lions did and Ghanaians would accept nothing less than a quarter final berth. This is the time we expect that sacrifice from them?the time to forgo their all to see us through?they should treat this opportunity as the last and ultimate world cup they ever would feature in. In 2010, Ghanaians would be thinking of more younger talents to represent the nation and not them, they should reckon this is their last and final world cup hence the need to make their names and all the big headlines.

Joe Cole scored that spirit-damping goal against Manchester at the bridge not because he is the best goal scorer on earth. At the time, Chelsea was precariously on top by a slim margin and the way Luis Saha and Rooney were dieing to save their names by leveling up was really scary. Cole realized that so he had to die a little more to save the Blues championship aspiration. The way the former West Ham wonder kid bamboozled the much-experienced Ferdinand and Sylvestre to beat Van Der Sar could tell you this.

Adjei, you are our leading safe pair of hands. Please do not yell at your guardsmen when they falter or they?ll commit worse errors. Chibsah can show you how he handled his men during the 2004 Olympic qualifiers?he was such a patient skipper. Never yelled at any guardsman.

Tuga, show your younger brothers how you were able to singly play out that deadly duo of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke. You made them impotent in that UEFA Champions League Final in 1999. We need that classy execution in you. Bring the magic for your last! We need your patience at the rear so dearly, especially when our going gets so murky, when the pressure mounts on us?expect it anyway cuz Antonio Cassano, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Milan Baros and Damascus Beasley are on the rampage. Teach your younger ones the man-to-man marking to outplay these fast-paced forwards.

Appiah, you do better at tournaments, we know that. Some even call you tournament player. Please organize your middle-men to string and scheme their passes well while closing in on the opponents? deadly middlemen. Andrea Pirlo, Gianluca Zambrotta, Pavel Nedved, Claudio Reyna, all mean business. Let your half-fledged marksmen understand that our chances come but maybe once in every game, and that if we can make the most out of every one that falls our way, we would be good to go. They must understand that beating Petr Cech and Gianluigi Buffon of all goalkeepers would need the most tricky and deceptive strikes.

I have watched Henry?s first 100 goals for the Gunners over and over again and realized that the king of Highbury could make the most of situations that actually do not present him good chances to score, yet he hits the back of the net in one outta every two of such chances. Our marksmen can do same.

Now is the time. You said you wanna play? Have you now the nod, PLAY AND LET?S SEE!!!

God Bless!