Ghana has been knocked out of the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Algeria. The Black Galaxies, were eliminated by Niger, on Sunday after a 2-1 defeat.
To say that the performance of the Black Galaxies, was a disaster is putting it mildly. This is another outing of our football, after the abysmal performance at the World Cup in Qatar, that Ghanaians are willing to erase from their memory.
Black Galaxies, lost the first match to Madagascar, they went on to defeat Sudan, only to lose to Niger in the quarter finals.
It is pertinent to note that, the fact that Ghana is out of the tournament is a reflection of the general mood of Ghanaians. Not many people paid attention to the tournament, because they know what the outcome will be.
If not for the fact that, Ghana’s football has been on a downward trend, how can Madagascar, a country which is not a football nation to defeat Ghana. Another show of shame was Niger, a country in times past, will love to pick football lessons from Ghana.
In the considered opinion of this newspaper, we have to access our preparation and readiness for tournaments, before we opt to take part. We are in a hurry to take part in tournaments knowing that, we don’t prepare well and football administrators are only interested in the money.
Our sports has taken a nosedive, gone are the days when Ghana, used to dominate or at least makes an impact not only in football but boxing, as well. We have produced world champions in the likes of Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, Joshua Clottey, Agbeko etc. Those days were our golden moments when money was not the main object of motivation.
In this dire economic situation that Ghanaians find themselves in, sports and most especially football, should not be added to the ignoble list.
Over the years, football has become one sport that brings Ghanaians together irrespective of ethnicity, religion or political affiliations. It should remain so.
The reality check of what happened in Algeria must be a wakeup call for sports administrators to pay more attention to the local league.
Local players must be scouted, natured and prepared for the next tournament.
Finally, we must all get involved to bring back the love for the local league, that is the only way to ensure favourable results in the future tournaments.
