Ghana arrives at Afcon one of the clear cut favourites to win the competition if not the favourite. At least on paper. The Black Stars are ranked by Fifa at 29th in the world and 2nd in Africa. We know that they have always played well. It is fact that under the Nkrumah they blossomed and ended up changing the pecking order in African football in the late 50's and 60's.
Till then dominated by the Caf founding nations like Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia; the West Africans were a showcase of skill and professionalism – on and off the pitch. Yet despite all her accomplishments during that golden era Ghana became notorious for always tripping over her own feet and not making it out of Africa for the World Cup.
Then things changed. She learned to win the games that counted – well except for the one with a Suarez in it – and slowly but surely rose back in the rankings. This can be attributed to a combination of two things. Exceedingly good position players and her Youth program that has to be arguably one of Africa's best farms. Not only has it built continental and World Champions but it has such efficient scouting of the home grown talent, that Black Star Coach Stevanovic does not even watch local games. The scouting is done for him.
Ghana secured her ticket to Afcon 2012 not as efficiently as the Elephants who remained unbeaten, or with the drama Libya went through. Nor were they as quick as the Zebras from Botswana but they dismantled their opponents without really being tested. While the thinning of the herd has nixed such players like GK Kingson it has also created spots for players like GLO League top scorer Emmanuel Boffour.
While Essien remains injured and Boateng is sadly gone the other usual suspects are there and the Black Stars will land at Afcon 2012 to create havoc. Gyan and BBC African Footballer of the Year Ayew will form the engine of team with the clear cut intention of adding one more African Champion star above the GFA crest.
No matter how we try to put it, anything less would be a huge disappointment and herald in changes from top to bottom.
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