Kickoff
(Cape Town)
7 October 2008
A historic venue, players under pressure to prove they are still hungry, a coach keen to impress a football mad nation and fans desperate to enjoy World Cup football again.
Ghana's meeting against Lesotho is special and nerve wracking for many reasons says Michael Oti Adjei.
This weekend, the Sekondi Highway will be one of the busiest because the biggest attraction is coming to town.
For the first time in living memory, we won't be hitching a ride to Kumasi for a Black Stars game outside Accra.
Thanks to a massive investment in stadiums for the 2008 Nations Cup, Sekondi has a facility fit enough to host an international game and on Saturday they will stage their first involving Ghana.
The 20,000 capacity stadium is not many people's flavour for a game so important when there are other grounds that can take twice that number of fans. But a policy on national team venues is a debate for another day.
This weekend Sekondi will enjoy its day in the national limelight and hope its slogan of the best comes from the west will spur the Stars on to their best display in the 2010 world cup qualifying.
They need it badly. With one world cup qualifying game remaining Ghana trails Gabon and Libya. The Gabonese on goal difference, Libya by three points. The two teams will kick off simultaneously as the Black Stars in Libreville and the prayer in Accra, Kumasi and everywhere will be that Gabon wins so Ghana can stand a chance of finishing top with a big win of their own.
This is not how it was supposed to be. I sat in the Durban auditorium when the draw for these qualifiers was made last year with a satisfactory smile on my face. The Lesotho game in town I reasoned was going to be one of those where the Stars will basically just put their feet up and have a good time.
But after a lame loss against Libya and a reversal against Gabon in Libreville, the Stars must save their best for the last.
They have no option basically. After experiencing the highs of Germany during the maiden World Cup, another appearance is what many Ghanaian will expect. Whether it is the ladies who cannot make out an offside from a goal or kids for whom the players have become demi gods, a win, another World Cup is imperative.
One man will carry the hopes of the Nation whether rightly or wrongly. We blame the coach in this part of the world for anyway results go and Milovan Rajevac will without doubt be the man under the most pressure as Saturday approaches.
A loss in his opening game means there will be many watching to see signs of improvement. As things go here he will become the master tactician, the special one and a Messiah in one swoop if the Stars get what should be a routine win against Lesotho.
It should be routine because the Southern African Nation have been poor. They have lost every game so far and are jetting into town without much to play for. But as the Black Stars learnt from a down and out Namibia during the 2008 Nations Cup, those teams like they say in Portugal can pack the bus in front of goal and just watch and just make life difficult for the opposition.
But still there should be no reason for the Stars to falter. They have been there, done that. More importantly they have got the reputation of not just their personal selves but their careers to uphold too.
African football is spread with the history of national teams thrilling in one World Cup and then going off the boil in the months afterwards. Cameroon in 1990, Nigeria in 1994 and Senegal in 2002. It is a list the Stars must not be a part of but already they are looking like joining the company.
For the players they must prove not just in words which they have so eloquently spoken but in their actions on the pitch that they still have the hunger to do well. They must prove that one World Cup, the adulation of female fans, their hero status, national awards and money has not killed their appetite to do well as many people suspect.
It should be one of those games which could be decided by nerves. Lesotho will come relaxed. They have nothing to lose while for Ghana it is the direct opposite.
As always KickOffGhana.com will keep you informed.
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