Ohene-Bampoe Brenya Writes: Are The Black Stars facing another “Bouake Disaster” or “Yaoundé massacre”?

Mohammad Kudus needed just 45 minutes to announce his presence at the Cup of Nations. Kudus missed Ghana’s group opener against Cape Verde through injury.

Jamiro Monteiro scored the opener for Cape Verde in the 17th minute. Alexander Djiku headed home Ghana’s equaliser, 11 minutes into the second half. Just when everyone thought the game was heading to a draw, Garry Rodrigues scored in added time to break many Ghanaian hearts, the goal secured all 3 points for Cape Verde.

Kudus was named in the starting line up against Egypt and his debut goal was of spectacular proportions, the goal was met with screams inside the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny, through the streets of Accra. Indeed Kudus is a generational talent, and his game matches the hype. When Ghana needed a star, he appeared in the sky twice. Once again silly individual mistakes cost us a vital win.

Something the Black Stars have not been able to do since AFCON 2019. What this result means is that we have only 1 point out of a possible 6 and 1 win in 11 AFCON games an all time low.

This result did not only re-emphasize the falling standard of the once enviable Black Stars of Africa but a harsh reminder of events which took place 40 years ago and also in our last Afcon in Cameroon.

Yaoundé Massacre

My colleagues here in Abidjan who were in Cameroon tell me it feels like Yaoundé all over again. Ghana lost her first group game against Morocco and managed to draw with Gabon. The Black Stars had just a point from two games, same as the results here in Abidjan. The team needed a win against Comoros to qualify. Many thought it was going to be a walk in the park but received a shock of their lives. Ghana was eliminated from the AFCON at the group stage without Winning a game. The team’s worst performance in Ghana’s AFCON history. Surprisingly, the last time the team had a performance as close to this was as far back as 40 years ago in Ivory Coast. In what is now referred to in our history as the Bouaka Disaster.

Bouaka Disaster

The Black Stars had won Ghana’s 4th Cup of Nations in Libya, an unprecedented feat. Ghana was the first Country to win the competition on 4 separate occasions. The Nation had high hopes that Ghana will defend the trophy, considering the circumstances preceding Ghana’s participation in the Cup of Nations in Libya. The Late Jerry John Rawlings had staged a coup that overthrew, President Liman on 31st December 1981. The country was unstable, the team wasn’t sure they were going to make the competition, however chairman Rawlings gave a late green light for the team to participate in the 1982 competition and became eventual winners.

Ivory Coast were hosts of the 1984 Cup of Nation. Ghana was paired in Group B with Algeria, Nigeria and Malawi. Ghana lost 2-1 to Nigeria in our group opener and 2-0 to Algeria and won our last group game against Malawi but it was too little too late. Champions Ghana were eliminated from the competition with just a win.

Similarities
There are striking similarities in the performance and circumstances heading to the elimination of Ghana in the 1984 and 2021 AFCON tournaments and what is happening in the 2023 AFCON. POOR START!
In both competitions, Ghana started poorly. In 84 Ghana lost all its first 2 games, however there was slight improvement at the 2021 AFCON the Black Stars lost their first game and drew the second game just like we are experiencing in Abidjan. 1 point from a possible 6.

COACHING

Coach Emmanuel Afranie was blamed for Ghana’s poor showing at the 1984 Afcon, one of his major crimes was that he had selected too many left footed players in the squad and in his starting 11. In 2021, Milovan Rajevac was nothing close to the Coach who nearly got Ghana to the Semi Finals in South Africa 2010. Dr. Baba who was the team doctor lost his job for the inclusion of injured Mubarak Wakaso. Chris Hughton has been criticized heavily for the spiritless performance from his team, even when he gets results, the performance has been dreadful. His approval ratings has been at an all time low.

This generation of players have the opportunity to rewrite history, the good news though is that even if Ghana fails to make the first or second place, the team can still qualify as one of the 4 third best placed teams if the Black Stars beat Mozambique and Egypt beats Cape Verde who have already qualified with 6 points.

This script is all too familiar however, the only problem is, we don’t know which of the scripts this is. Whether the Bouaka Disaster or the Yaoundé Massacre. Hopefully, these players appreciate the enormity of the task ahead and will rise to the fore and deliver us from another embarrassment.