The Road to South Africa

Given that Ghana were the first team – after South Africa, of course – to make it to the World Cup, it might be thought that getting there was fairly straightforward. Not at the start. They only emerged from the first group stage ahead of Gabon and Libya on goal difference and lost Essien to a serious knee injury. The second phase was, curiously, rather more straightforward with Ghana’s only defeat coming after they had officially qualified.

The Star Players

Matthew Amoah (Breda) The striker flourished in Dutch football with Vitesse Arnhem, NAC Breda and Fortuna Sittard but struggled badly in the Bundesliga at Dortmund. However, in a team lacking natural centre-forwards, he has to step up in class if Ghana are going to make a real breakthrough in South Africa.

Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan) Assuming there are none of the disciplinary problems that have soured his relationship with coach, Milovan Rajevac, Muntari will vie with Essien for the title of Ghana’s best player. His time in Serie A first with Udinese and now Inter were highly successful and he finished his season at Portsmouth with the FA Cup.

John Paintsil (Fulham) Like Muntari, Paintsil appeared destined for stardom from the moment he formed part of the Ghana side that reached the World Youth Cup final in 2001. His career took off in Israel and was cemented in London with fine defensive performances for first West Ham and then Fulham.

The Coach

Milovan Rajevac Ghana have a thing about appointing Serb managers. Ratomir Dujkovi led them into the 2006 tournament and Rajevac became the third man from Serbia to lead the Black Stars in six years. There was not a lot of rejoicing in Accra at his appointment because Rajevac, bluntly, appeared insufficiently famous to be taking charge of Africa’s best World Cup hopes. His best work had been with minor clubs such as Vojvodina and Borac and his command of English was poor.

Honours

World Cup: Round of 16 2006.
Africa Cup of Nations: Winners 1963, 1965, 1978, 1982. Finalists 1968, 1970, 1992, 2010.

Analysis

Once more, a fine Ghana squad are faced with a difficult draw that is likely to hinder their progress in South Africa. In 2006 it was Brazil blocking their path in the round of 16 and, unless the Black Stars top Group D, there are almost certain to face England in Rustenburg. Finishing first would most likely entail meeting the United States or Slovenia in Bloemfontein, a game Ghana would be pretty confident of winning. However, the gut feeling their tournament will end much as it did four years ago.

Verdict

Squad (3/5)
It is better than any other African side. Ghana can field a very strong first team, albeit one that is weak in attack but it is susceptible to injury, especially to its midfield powerhouse.

Coach (2.5/5)
There are many followers of African football who feel the federation could have done a lot better than someone whose main level of expertise was qualifying minor Serb sides for the Uefa Cup.

Attack (2/5)
A lot of Ghana’s play is reliant on breaks from midfield and Matthew Amoah is not quite good enough to shoulder the whole burden alone. The early rounds of the Africa Cup of Nations were not encouraging.

Defence (3.5/5)
One Rajevac’s real achievements has been to tighten up and toughen up the Ghana back-four and the midfielders who play in front of them. As the Czech Republic and the United States discovered, once Ghana are in front they are hard to peg back.