Ghana go back to the Fifa World Cup this year confident of an impressive run given the strength of their squad after missing out on the previous edition in Russia.
Before 2018, the Black Stars had been to three successive finals and had come within inches of creating continental history in 2010 in South Africa.
Now, coach Otto Addo has some seasoned stars plying their trade for clubs in the top European leagues to call on for the difficult task of helping the Black Stars to progress out of what has been termed by some as the Group of Death. And with good reason too, Ghana will contest for one of the top two spots against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H.
But under the captaincy of the experienced and exceptionally classy Andre Ayew, who will have the likes of Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey and Thomas Partey of Arsenal alongside him, Ghana have good reason to believe they can reach the knockout stage for a third time.
The fact that Ayew plays his club football in Qatar is another factor that might see Ghana one-up their opponents. The son of the legendary Abedi Pele has been playing for Al Sadd since last year and will be familiar with the conditions and no doubt have many of the locals supporting him and his teammates.
Going to his third World Cup tournament, Ayew has earned himself the title of Ghana’s big star despite his journeyman club football career that has seen him turn out for seven sides in four countries since making his professional debut in 2007.
A skilful winger with a turn of pace and eye for goal, Ayew is a leader who has the ability to not only cajole his teammates into lifting their game but to inspire them into doing so through his own performance. At 32, he retains most of his pace and fitness and his football sageness on the ball has only intensified.
Ayew has openly acknowledged just how tough a task making it out of the group will be but is confident the Black Stars have what it takes.
“We have a chance,” he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “Nobody sees us as favourites, which is expected. So we know we are not going into any of the matches as favourites but we’re there to fight and make an impact.
“If we have our full squad, we can disrupt a lot of teams. I am not concerned because I know what Ghana are capable of. No doubt it will be a very difficult group for all the teams and all we have to do is be ready, focused, determined and have a bit of luck.”
Luck was something Ghana — christened Ba-Ghana Ba-Ghana then as South Africans adopted the West Africans after the first-round exit of Bafana Bafana — didn’t have back in 2010. They had what would no doubt have been a winning goal cleared off the line goalkeeper-style by the handball of Uruguay striker Luis Suarez in the quarterfinals. Asamoah Gyan crashed the resultant penalty against the crossbar and Ghana went on to lose the drawn via the shoot-out, denying them being Africa’s first World Cup semi-finalists.
Many will no doubt view the two countries’ clash on December 2, the final match of the group, as a grudge match.
But Ayew, who missed that FNB Stadium game due to suspension after accumulating two yellow cards, says vengeance should not be on Ghana’s minds.
“As a team leader, I don’t believe we should view this game as revenge. As a player, if you go into a game with the intent of retaliation, you can make a lot of mistakes and be hyper.
“Instead we must be smart enough to recognise that it is a match we need points from. We just need to stay calm, follow the plan and try to win the game or do whatever we can to advance to the next stage,” he told Al Jazeera.
Ayew knows though their clash with Uruguay will open old wounds but says that’s just how football goes.
“We can’t ignore history, but what Luis Suarez did is something I could have done in the same situation. It hurt us. But that’s part of football and it happened years ago.”
Most of those in the Black Stars squad were young in 2010 and would have only watched the match on television, so should not be so focused on this year’s Uruguay match that they drop the ball in the earlier games against Portugal and South Korea.
Ghana would do well to collect points early and while Portugal are definitely the group favourites, they can’t be termed invincible. On their day, the Black Stars should be able to hold their own against Ronaldo and Co.
Many countries would be delighted with simply being back on the World Cup stage after missing out, but Ghana are too strong a football nation to be content with just making up the numbers. So expect Ayew and his team to be willing to break a leg in Qatar for a showing that will make the continent proud.
Previous World Cup performance: Round of 16 2006; quarterfinals — 2010;
group stage in 2014
Key players: Daniel Amartey (defender, Leicester City, England),
Andre Ayew (midfielder, Al-Sadd, Qatar), Thomas Partey (Arsenal, England)
Coach: Otto Addo
Current Ranking: 61
Group H: Portugal, South Korea, Uruguay, Ghana
Predicted finish: First round exit
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