We are nearly there

In my last piece I remember saying that if Ghana won her World Cup Qualifying match against Sudan in Omdurman then the Ghana Football Association can start booking hotels for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Win they did, and already soccer pundits, fans and journalists are already debating the sort of squad Ghana should present at the World Cup and interestingly enough, Milovan Rajevac, who has had his fair share of critics (yours truly included), has become the flavour of the month with some even calling for him to be given an improved deal. But let's come back down from cloud nine to earth, shall we? We may have a perfect start, but even though we are so close, we are not there yet!

True to form, Rajevac began with virtually the same line-up that featured against Mali a couple of weeks ago, with only one change; Samuel Inkoom coming in for the suspended John Paintsil. What became apparent was that Sudan, after beginning quite brightly, could not cope with Ghana after the first 10 minutes and after Kwadwo Asamoah narrowly missed the target with a lob, it was only a matter of time that the Black Stars would take the lead, and sure enough, 4 minutes later, they did. Prince Tagoe, who is revelling in his new role as a right attacker, set up Matthew Amoah for the first goal.

Soon afterwards, it became increasingly apparent that the Black Stars wanted to express themselves more and be more adventurous. Michael Essien was soon lending support to the forwards and because of his many forays upfront, Sudan gradually stamped their authority on the game and the Ghana defence, particularly the central pair of skipper John Mensah and Eric Addo, was brutally exposed again and again by the Nile Crocodiles. Anthony Annan was perhaps Ghana’s weakest link on the day and the Black Stars defence came under increasing pressure. Harrison Afful began to give the ball away with alarming regularity, with one of such situations resulting in Sudan captain Haytham Tambal crashing a shot against the crossbar. With the benefit of a run of games for Wigan in the English Premiership, Richard Kingston was in inspired form, pulling save after save and perhaps was Ghana’s best player on the day.

With the sustained pressure mounted by Sudan, the sound of the half time whistle must have been a source of relief to the Ghana technical team, but worryingly the same trend continued for a few minutes into the second half. Kingston pulled off another fine save and it proved to be a match winning one, because not long after, Asamoah, who had a hand in the first goal, set up Amoah for his and Ghana’s second. It was the first time the NAC Breda forward had netted a brace for Ghana and Rajevac’s system seems to have benefitted him, with three goals from two games. Inkoom began to come into his own in the second half, and soon, Sudan were on the back foot, with the ball twice cleared from the Sudanese line.

All in all, a good victory, but a few critical points to note. I have always felt that Eric Addo, who has performed creditably as a central defender, would probably play better in front of the back four and Saturday’s match showed how Mensah had to almost all the time cover up for him. Perhaps Rajevac doesn’t have that much trust in Isaac Vorsah’s abilities as a defender, but I firmly believe that Vorsah will probably be a better defensive partner for Mensah. With Essien’s reputation as a box-to-box midfielder, perhaps the tactically aware Addo will be a good foil for him, especially as Annan, who didn’t perform to his usual high standards, might be suspended for the next match.

Harrison Afful needs to cut out the fancy footwork in defence and get back to basics. The Asante Kotoko defender has clearly returned to form, but over-confidence seems to be his major flaw at the moment, and if he cuts that out of his game, he will be Ghana’s first choice left back for years to come. Samuel Inkoom grew in confidence and will be happy with his performance in the second half, but he will remain an excellent cover for the returning John Paintsil. The normally calm John Mensah lost his temper more than once, constantly complaining to the referee and at one stage Essien had to push him away. The stand-in captain will have to realise that such away games carry frustrations and as such, he will need to avoid going into the referee’s book.

Opoku Agyeman is gradually establishing a place for himself in the starting lineup with his pace and aggression, and more matches for Ghana will no doubt give him further confidence to do better. Amoah’s rich vein of form is heartening to note and the fact that strikers like Junior Agogo and Joe Tex Frimpong can be called upon from the bench means Ghana now seem to have more arrows in her quiver as far as attacking is concerned.

In Kwadwo Asamoah, Ghana seems to have found a creative force who relishes his free role for Ghana and for me, he is heir-apparent, not to Sulley Muntari, but to Stephen Appiah. After playing a major part in Matthew Amoah’s three goals in Ghana’s last two matches, as well as scoring himself, he is also fast becoming Rajevac’s ace in the pack.

At the moment, the return from injury of players such as Sulley Muntari, Asamoah Gyan and Laryea Kingston should give Ghana a powerful squad; of course the aforementioned players will have to fight their way back into the starting eleven. The same applies to Stephen Appiah and hopefully, the Ghana captain should soon secure a new club and get over his injury concerns to return to the team.

It’s looking very promising, with two home games to come including the September fixture against Sudan at home. Four more points will virtually seal Ghana’s qualification to the World Cup. So, as much as we can smile, it’s still too early to celebrate, because the World Cup road can be a rough one at times, but Ghana are surely favorites to qualify. We are not there yet, but we are nearly there!