Ghana mourns African Nations Cup exit

ACCRA—There was a distinct air of sorrow across Ghana on Friday as the nation woke up to the harsh reality that their African Nations Cup dream was at an end.
Gone were the wild celebrations that had greeted the hosts’ quarter-final win over regional rivals Nigeria at the weekend, instead people were going about their business with their heads down and their hearts broken.
“I’m sad today, everybody’s sad, I really believed we were going to lift the title,” said Accra street trader Jojette Baako.
“The party’s over for us, now instead of the final all that’s left is the match for bronze on Saturday,” the mother of five added, wiping away a tear.
The Black Stars’ crashed out to Cameroon in Thursday’s semi-final, Claude Le Roy’s side defeated by the mentally tough Indomitable Lions who now face Egypt in Sunday’s finale.
The local press treated the 1-0 defeat as they would a national disaster. “The dream is over” ran the headline in The Ghanaian Times, above a full page photo of a distraught Michael Essien, the Chelsea midfielder who captained the Black Stars against Cameroon in place of suspended John Mensah. “Stars miss final, and players weep” was how The Daily Graphic summed up the loss above an image of coach Claude Le Roy comforting Essien and Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari.
Recounting the moment when Ghana’s Cup run hit the buffers the paper wrote: “In the steamy semi-final against Cameroon substitute Alain Nkong ended Ghana’s fifth Nations Cup title dream with a 71st minute drive as the 40,000 capacity Ohene Djan stadium went dead and the players broke down in uncontrollable tears.”
“One could hear a pin drop,” it added. The Ghanaian Times laid the blame squarely at the door of Le Roy.
“Technical bankruptcy from the bench, rather than any convincing performance from Cameroon, was responsible for the failure of the Black Stars,” the paper claimed. It criticised the Frenchman’s decision to keep Essien at the back as cover for the missing Mensah. “To compound a bad problem, Le Roy took away the lively Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and brought in veteran Baffour Gyan when the going got tough. Needless to say Gyan hardly had a look in.” The Times then took a swipe at the practise of African national sides to hire managers like Le Roy from overseas.
“Foreign coaches are contracted at a king’s ransom to bring success.
“But the history of Ghana’s participation in the Africa Cup of Nations tells a clear story that our local coaches have been more reliable than the coaches brought in at huge cost to the state.”
The sombre mood was not shared by the pockets of Cameroon fans who have seen their side bounce back from an opening first round loss to Egypt to have a shot at a record-equalling fifth title.
“I watched the game in a bar packed with Ghanaian fans, I was the only Cameroon supporter and had to be careful not to show too much emotion when Ngong scored,” recounted film director Jean-Pierre Bekolo. Ghana have appeared in only one third place play-off, losing by a solitary goal to Zambia in Johannesburg 12 years ago as the sun set on the international career of legendary Black Star Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew.
Ivory Coast have appeared in the penultimate fixture five times, winning against Senegal (1965), Ethiopia (1968), Morocco (1986) and Mali (1994) with the sole blip a 3-1 loss to Egypt in the 1970 play-off. Some coaches view the match as a chance to give those who faithfully warmed the bench thoughout the tournament a chance to shine while others retain first choice selections.
The outcome at the 45,000-seat Baba Yara Stadium in this central city could come down to which coach fields the strongest side and recharges best those flat batteries.—Agencies