14 February 2002
editorial
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon made history last Sunday when it annexed the 2002 African Cup of Nations tournament after defeating the Lions of Senegal in a final match that went to the wire - and decided on penalties.
By this feat, the Cameroonians have also joined the exclusive club of 4-time winners following Ghana and Egypt and also became the first nation since 1967 to win the tournament back-to-back having come into the Mali tournament as defending champions.
From the era of Roger Milla, Theophile Abega, Thomas Nkono, Emmanuel Kunde, Francois Oman Biyick to the present generation of players like Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto'O Fils, Kalla, Pius Ndiefi, Olembe Olembe etc, Cameroon has held its own on local and international stages.
This is borne out by the stupendous performance displayed by the team in the four times the Indomitable Lions has competed at the World Cup.
The high point of Cameroon's success was the 1982 and 1990 World Cup competitions in Spain and Italy where it became the first African country to qualify for the second round and the quarter-final stages respectively.
They made Africa more proud when they also won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The common denominator in the trail of successes of the Cameroonian team lay in the perfect blend of both old and youthful players.
The script did not change in Mali as we watched on display a perfect combination and blend of both seasoned and experienced players with the youthful, energetic and skilful players. The synergy of experience and youth invariably worked the magic culminating in their victory in the finals.
This is the hallmark of every good team and Cameroon should be applauded for displaying it in such a sublime manner.
Suffice to say that at the time Cameroon was grouping its players for the defence of the title, Ghana retired all her senior players including Captain C. K. Akunnor.
Herein lie the lessons for the administrators of Ghana football. Football has grown from the era when it was just purely for recreation and fun.
It is now a major, viable commercial enterprise and countries that move towards that direction are bound to reap the dividends.
Nobody saw the wisdom in the decision to off-load (retire) an entire generation of players and replace them with an entire new crop of players on the eve of an important tournament.
It is the considered view of the Ghanaian Chronicle that those who took the decision to retire the senior players and to use the Mali tournament as training grounds for the new crop of players has done a lot of disservice to Ghana football.
It shows how far removed our football administrators are from the modern trends of football management. They should bow their heads in shame.
Cameroon has shown the way. What we ought to do is definitely not play the ostrich. We have to go back to the drawing board, recall the senior players from retirement.
They have to be given the opportunity to compete for placement in the team that is if they are prepared and psyched enough to stage a comeback considering the humiliation they were subjected to.
Ghana soccer is belly up and our football administrators should work to save the floundering image of the once powerhouse of African soccer.(ACONS)
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