Let the players, not the referees decide!!!

It’s unfortunate I have to start this post with a gripe. There has been some great footballing on show at CAN 2010 since my last article, with several surprises such as the qualification of Ghana’s youthful side into the semi-finals and Algeria’s elimination of the much fancied Elephants. Cote d’Ivoire vs Algeria was probably the best match to date and it’s such a shame that it had to be decided by a blatant refereeing error. There lies my gripe: the appalling standard of refereeing at this tournament AND FIFA’s obstinate stance against the introduction of goal line technology.

There’s been much debate on this topic. I’ll try to address some of the arguments against technology. One is that football is a human game, referees are human and so are errors. This argument from nature is a sentimental one and nothing more. Sure, things in their natural, unperturbed forms are beautiful. Natural forms however tend to be wild and unproductive. This is exactly what some of the recent decisions in the game have been: wild and unproductive. I believe that at some time in life people said that not being able to fly is a human limitation that we had to accept. Today, most people enjoy the benefits of flying. In sports, there were times that judges had to make a call on which horse crossed the line first in horse racing. I’m sure it was exciting then. Video technology is now used to determine winners and I don’t believe it has made that sport less exciting. If anything, it has made it fairer while retaining the excitement.

Perhaps the strongest argument is that technology will disrupt the flow of the game. I disagree with this POV too. I don’t believe technology will create anymore disruptions than we already have. Anyone who watched the Egypt-Cameroun game saw how many minutes were wasted on the Lions’ protests after that ghost goal by Ahmed Hassan. Those of us watching on tv had meanwhile seen what the correct decision should have been within seconds of the incident. In this era of powerful, instant replays, I can’t buy the “flow disruption” argument. Maybe fellow footie fans and administrators like Sepp Blatter need to watch other sports more. I was at the 2009 US Open (tennis) and it did not take me long to acknowledge the benefits of video replays in that game. The balls are hit so hard and fast it's impossible for line judges to be exact. Technologies such as the “Hawkeye” are therefore helping umpires make calls that their human minds could not have been able to make correctly. If you ask me, I’ll tell you that is progress.

The lamest argument by far remains the one which assumes that wrong calls even themselves out. They don’t and there are so many instances to cite from. England didn't get a chance to avenge Diego Maradona’s "Hand of God", Cameroun won the 2000 CAN over Nigeria because of a wrong call and the Eagles haven’t lifted the trophy since, Pedro Mendes will probably never get to score a winner against Man Utd in his life, Chelsea are yet to have redemption for Luis Garcia’s [no] goal. The list is endless. Unfortunately not all things come round together once they are gone. One is a pack of feathers, another is reputation. The third I can think of is a critical call in a crucial match.

The one point I seemed to agree with Seppe Blatter and his bureaucrats at FIFA on is that technology may be too expensive at first to be implemented throughout the game. His fear is that those at the grassroots will be denied an important aspect of the game that they will have to deal with when they hit big time. Upon further thought, I do not even side with this point any longer. I have news for FIFA: there has never been an equal distribution of resources for the development of the game across the world. I remember when in Ghana we would kick anything that bore a globular semblance around. We would even cut polythene bags into pieces, stuff them into a bigger one and tie it all round so we could get something to play with. That was our football. I’m sure kids growing up in England, Italy and elsewhere had their Umbro and Lotto balls to play with. This discrepancy in initial resource did not prevent us from spanking them really hard in professional contests.

I’m all for the introduction of video technology in football. It’s long overdue. The greatest danger is letting it dominate the game at the exclusion of its soul. I however believe we can manage this danger and not only make football richer, but also fairer. Gripe over!!!

On a more serious note, the semi finals of the CAN are going to be two cracking affairs. There are four permutations for the final and each outcome is equally likely. I’m however going to stick my neck out and make some bold predictions:

Egypt 1 -1 Algeria AET. Egypt wins 7-6 on penalties

Ghana 1-0 Nigeria

I think we are looking at Egypt extending their amazing CAN run to three successive trophies, I’m afraid!

Ghana 1-3 Cote d'Ivoire: through the rear-view mirror

So the Black Stars got beat by the Elephants. If you were surprised by that result, please see Dr Juma because you may be suffering from any combination of the ailments that his mystic treatment cures. Most of my guys who have been following the team were expecting this kinda result. In fact, one of them predicted a 3-0 defeat a few minutes before kick-off and only a dodgy penalty decision makes me cautious about ringing him up for the weekend’s lotto numbers.

Before you shout Nuff Crisis, I will ask that we look at the positives from the game. First silver lining is the chance given to the youngsters. Many a time, we have complained that the national team is a sort of gerontocracy, with too much emphasis on seniority. So with a total of eight members of the FIFA Youth World Cup winning squad going to Angola and guys like Dede Ayew getting a starting place, we should be happy with the prospects of young people in the senior squad. I was also happy to see other new faces, not necessarily from the youth team. I think Kojo Asamoah in particular continues to impress and is a source of real inspiration going into the future.

The second positive I take from the match is that we matched Ivory Coast quite well. Surprisingly well. There were periods in the second half (between Eboue’s red card and Tiene’s screamer) that I began to feel we could actually draw the match at least. Ivory Coast fielded a far more experienced team than Ghana (although I think the “Team B” argument is very lame). Holding them in check for the most part should be a consolation, even if the scoreline is more than unflattering.

Ghana still plays with good technique. I know some of you may disagree with me on this point but it is one I’m convinced of. We have that ability to keep the ball on the ground and play it in the classic Ghana style. We did not rush the play, although at times we could have done with more urgency. I’ll come back to this point. With football changing so much in the last decade, placing more emphasis on power and lightning speed, it pleases the occasional purist in me to see Ghana play the ball as we did when building our reputation, especially with the youth squads of 1990-1997.

The brightest spot remains Michael Essien. About two months ago, a Chelsea fan I met in bar was adamant that Michael Essien is in the top three best players in the world. His argument was this: besides Ronaldo and Messi, there’s nobody else out there who can change a game the way Essien does. Although I did not agree completely with his conclusion, I saw the logic of his premise. Essien is definitely a game changer. This was evident in how the game swung the way of the Stars when he came on the second half. He’s got amazing drive, which carries the rest of the team on it. I was more than pleased to see him have so much influence in the game, even at about 50% fitness. He’s an untouchable. If Ghana is to have any chance at the World Cup, we'll need him fit and in top form.

Familiar weaknesses were all too prevalent in our game. First, can someone explain to me why Ghana still keeps such a high defensive line? I thought after this disaster, we would learn our lessons. The high lines make us very vulnerable to the counter attack and seeing as our defenders are not the quickest around, the technical team should abandon the idea altogether. When playing against a team blessed with pace like La Cote d’Ivoire, the last thing you want to do is leave a lot of space between the defence and the goalkeeper. It will be exploited and that’s exactly what happened for Gervinho’s goal. A related point is our inability to set proper offside traps. Again, this is a carryover from previous tournaments. There always seems to be someone too wary (or daft) to keep within the offside line and ends up playing the opposing strikers on. If a team doesn’t have players confident enough to set offside traps or quick enough to recover, it has no business indulging in that sort of thing. Get rid.

Another familiar theme is the incompetence of our strikers. Is it time Ghana played a 4-5-1 system seeing as our greatest strength is in the middle of the park? I would think it could be experimented with. Even though we played well during parts of the game, we rarely looked like scoring. Our strikers struggled to impose themselves on the Ivorian defence, until Asamah Gyan came on. Even then, we did not trouble a poor Boubacar Barry much. That our only real chance in the second half came out of a defensive error is not a good sign. I know this is a much talked about subject and I’ll be surprised if we do not remedy the situation before South Africa. There may be some sense in the pursuit of Mario Balotelli after all.

Although I mentioned Ghana’s still excellent technique earlier, I was still taken aback by how poor our distribution was. Maybe there’s something to be said about the terrible state of the pitch, but still it was very not Ghanaian. I also think we were not combative enough. The aggression we showed at CAN 2008 seemed to be lacking in the match yesterday. I don’t think the Ivory Coast is the strongest team mentally so going a little bit more physical may have ruffled them. We certainly have to improve in these stakes before we face Burkina, quite clearly the most physical side in world football.

This Ghana side has problems but I expect the Black Stars to beat Burkina. I still consider the CAN as a rehearsal for the World Cup though and on yesterday's showing, we have work to do before June

When it starts being a game again. At last.

First of, I think everybody should totally condemn the brutal attacks on the Togo national team. Such acts of barbarism cannot be excused on any grounds, including that of negligence on the part of the Togolese football authorities. Second, I respect the decision of the country to pull out of the tournament. I think it is fair to the players and the officials involved in the attacks to be excused from the pressure of competition immediately after.

Third and most importantly, I want us to talk about the football. Yes, the game on the pitch. Could there have been a better way for the tournament to kick off than this? I saw the first half and was completely turned off by the quality of play (or lack of it). Mali played absolutely shocking football in the first half and Angola wasn't any better. Guess what yours truly decided to do then. I went away for a team study session, only to miss perhaps the greatest comeback in international football history. Gutted. Absolutely gutted!

I trust that most of my crew watched the game in full so I'm counting on you guys to tell me what changed about the pathetic Mali team I saw in the first half. Did Stephen Keshi make any game changing moves? Did players like Kanoute suddenly show more interest and commitment in the last 20 minutes? Did Angola tire or become complacent? Was it pure luck like the 2005 Liverpool - AC Milan game?? Whatever it was, I think it was the best possible riposte to the rebels and a great way to draw attention rightfully to The Beautiful Game.

Ghana 2008: something for Angola 2010 to live up to!

The period between 20 January and 10 February 2008 was, and still is, the best of my life. There is of course no prize for guessing what took place. It was the 26^th African Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008. For those 20 days, Ghana was a carnival. The country was awash with the red, yellow and green colors of our national flag. For those days, any foreigner who came in to even the remotest of villages could have been excused for wondering what the nonsense about Africa being a sad, poor place was all about. There was little that was poor about Ghana for that period, and definitely nothing sad. All that mattered for those moments were the drums, the horns, the clappers and the whistles.

Working for CAL Bank on Independence Avenue at the time, I had the opportunity to see it all: from the clogged streets before Black Stars matches to the hysterical jubilations that followed their victories. I had never felt the nation so bonded as one before. For once, there were no tribes in Ghana. There were no political divisions. Everybody you met on the streets was a friend and you could hug them. Kiss them even. I watched all of the Stars matches at the Ohene Djan Stadium and I would give one arm to re-live that experience. Everything about it was enthralling fun. Even the clandestine schemes to get tickets for matches look like master lessons in Sun Tzu strategy in retrospect. The near one mile walk from 23 Independence Ave to the stadium was, for me, a ritualized procession to a holy ground. It made me feel like a member of a privileged few, chosen by a supreme being to embark on a pilgrimage.

Personally, Ghana 2008 came at an important point in my social life. One, I was settling into life as a young professional with more than a decent salary. Two, I had a new Peugeot 307 on loan from my "Sugar Mummy" Justina Laing (I love you!!!) to wheel around. Three, I had a crazy gang of friends who LOVE football. We had spent years chasing football around the world and finally the game had come home to us. Papa Amissah, Patrick Quantson, Nii Laryea Logozoo, Admoako Frimpong, and Clifford Clottey wouldn’t let this event pass without memory. And they sure didn’t. Put your hands up Messrs Guinness, Hennessy, Johnie Walker and Jack Daniels. You definitely played your roles to perfection. Finally, there was Stephanie Bamfo strutting by my side.

On the pitch, the football itself was magnificent. It was the tournament that produced the most goals in Nations Cup history and Ghana set the tone by beating Guinea with a stunning late goal from Sulley Muntari in the opening game. This was followed by defending champions Egypt producing a 4-2 win over Cameroon. Then came the upsets, as Angola recovered from a goal down to beat Senegal 3-1 and Guinea overcame Morocco 3-2.

The quarter-finals saw Ghana produce a memorable comeback to beat arch-rivals Nigeria 2-1, with 10 men. The Ivory Coast, tournament favorites, turned on the style in a 5-0 demolition of Guinea, only to come unstuck in the semi-final. Egypt walloped The Elephants 4-1 in one of the most breathtaking team displays I have ever seen. The Pharaohs then went on to beat Cameroun in the final to win the cup for a record breaking sixth time.

Samuel Eto'o scored five goals, making him the most prolific scorer in the tournament's history with 16, while Angola's Manucho burst onto the scene with four. Egypt's Essam Al Hadari produced world-class goalkeeping and his team mate Hosni Abd Rabou was easily the best player of the tournament.

I recount my CAN 2008 memories with a fondness of heart but I look forward to Angola 2010 in great anticipation. If it exceeds Ghana in any way, it will be the best footie tournament ever staged on African soil. At least, before the first ever 3D World Cup kicks off. In the meantime, share with me your best memories from Ghana 2008 and other Nations Cup events, as well as what you expect of Angola.

Looking through my crystal ball - the footballing world in 2010

The Sloan School of Management is famous for the analytical rigor of its programs. After going through one semester of the MBA, do I say that reputation has been properly earned? Well, yes. It is MIT after all. Perhaps the most popular of the quantitative subjects is the first semester MBA core course, DMD. One of the topics we learned from DMD last semester was Crystal Ball Simulation. This is how Crystal Ball works (or how I understood it): you make assumptions that a certain incident and its consequence obey specific probability distributions, you run a particular number (n) of trials for that incident and its consequence over time period (t), you calculate the benefits/costs of each of the ‘n’ trials and generate a probability distribution of the cost/benefit differences based on the ‘n’ trials!! Confused, right? Hopefully you have a better life than me and don’t have to make sense of such balderdash!

Using my knowledge of crystal ball and understanding of the game, I have simulated how the world of football will shape up in 2010. I will like you to tell me what you think and please, do not take any of these forecasts personally. They are all about the assumptions and assumptions are like a***oles - everybody has one!

January: La Cote d’Ivoire finally win the African Cup of Nations that their talented squad has merited for the last four years or so, beating Cameroun 3-0 in the final. Samuel Eto’o is once again top scorer at this tournament, extending his remarkable record to 22 goals.

Meanwhile in England, Carlo Ancelotti is seen running naked in the snow strewn streets of West London, munching at a big, tasty humble pie. Why? Chelsea sign not one, but two players in the January transfer window. One of them is of course Sergio Aguero, who will go on to become the next Shevchenko at the Bridge.

February: No major incident

March: Man Utd win the Carling Cup, beating Aston Villa 2-0 in the final. Wayne Rooney scores both goals. In the same month, United are knocked out of the Champions League by a David Beckham inspired AC Milan.

April: Ciro Ferrera is finally sacked as manager of Juventus. Rumor has it that the job will be offered to Mark Hughes but nothing comes out of it. The club reach an agreement with Laurent Blanc to take up the vacant position at the end of the season. This is another important step by the Frenchman on his preparation to succeed Sir Alex at Old Trafford.

May: Barcelona make more history by becoming the first club to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League trophy. They however miss out on back to back league titles as Real Madrid pips them to La Liga. The other major leagues in Europe also come to a close and the winners are as follows:

England: Chelsea

Italy: Inter Milan

France: Bordeaux

Germany: Bayern Munich

Liverpool lose the final of the Europa League but get the chance to attempt again for the trophy as the fail to qualify for the Champions League. Man City wins fourth place in the EPL.

June: After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, The World Cup kicks off in South Africa. In the opening match, the hosts surprisingly defeat Mexico 1-0. Over five hundred people are however admitted to the otology unit of the largest hospital in the world, after having their ears assaulted by the din of the Vuvuzela. FIFA finally get the sense to ban those cacophonous horns from the stadiums.

After fifty-six matches, the line up of the quarter finals is complete as follows:

France vs England

Netherlands vs Brazil

Argentina vs Ghana

Spain vs Cameroun

July: Spain win their first World Cup. Francesc Fabregas is voted the best player of the tournament and David Villa wins the golden boot. The next day, Florentino Perez announces that Real Madrid has finalized the $65 million signing of Villa from Valencia.

August: There is a flurry of transfer activity. Real follows the signing of Villa with the $55 million capture of Franck Ribery from Bayern, David Silva signs for Man Utd while Man City make a cast of expensive acquisitions from the Serie A: Maicon, Angel di Maria, Giampaolo Pazzini, Sebastian Giovinco and Ivan Cordoba. Liverpool also sign Alvaro Negredo from Sevilla, but the real story of the summer is the $80 million move by Fabregas from Arsenal to Barca.

September: Accra Hearts of Oak are finally awarded the Glo Premier League title, after several months in court. Asante Kotoko comes second but only after Kessben FC are docked points for fielding an unqualified player.

October: Roberto Mancini wins Manager of the Month in England. His Man City side sit pretty at the top of the table. Meanwhile, the scuttlebutt is that Roman Abrahamovic is less than pleased with Chelsea’s performance so far and is considering his options. We all know what those options entail.

November: Rafa Benitez is sacked as manager of Liverpool.

December: Barcelona continue to rule the world of club football as they retain the World Club Championship. Lionel Messi becomes the first player since a certain goofy toothed magician to retain the FIFA World Best Player award. Wayne Rooney wins the Balon d’Or and this audacious effort from Maynor Figueroa wins the distinction of goal of the year.

With that the year comes to a happy ending for all of us footie lovers. Unless, of course, you think I was drunk when running my models. In that case, I will expect you to lay into me.

The blast of the referee's whistle.........

In a throwback to Robert DeNiro’s baseball speech in The Untouchables, I will say that as a man becomes older, he finds out that the essence of his life is in his enthusiasms. Enthusiasms – what bring him joy, what draw his admiration, what make him look forward to another day on this earth. What are mine? One: football.

I have been a football fan since I have known me. I was fortunate to be born in a football crazy country like Ghana. In Ghana, you become a football follower unconsciously. It is part of your upbringing. It surrounds you from the moment you are born. In your cradle, in your parents’ bedroom, in the small porch of your house, on the unpaved streets, on every school field, from gutter to gutter. You play football by default and you become a football coach by default. You learn every aspect to the game unwittingly. Football is a national obsession.

What then makes football special to me? It is just two teams of eleven men each, kicking a ball weighing ~450g around, right? Wrong. To me, football is an education. I have learned perhaps the most important principles in psychology, sociology, mathematics and strategy from watching and playing football. It has also taught me the most important practical lessons in life: preparation, hard work, focus, sacrifice and team work.

Football is a unifier. What else will bring eleven strong men each from the US and Iran together on the same turf? How about North and South Korea? Football defies tribe, ethnicity or race. When the goal is scored, it doesn’t matter if it was an Israeli who scored or a Lebanese who gave the pass. Unless of course, you are Amr Zaki. Football is also a leveler. It is a classless sport. In the game, the dreams of egalitarians come true. On the same field, it is common to find someone from a poor childhood arm in arm with another who had a privileged upbringing. In the pub, it is not uncommon to find a bank analyst sharing a few bottles of Guinness with his director over a Champions League match.

Most importantly, football is the strongest bond between me and my best friends. Be they in Accra, London or Boston, it is the adhesive that holds us together. It is what we call each other about. My friends visit my Facebook page, expecting an interesting line they can comment on. They look forward to me making a ridiculous statement so they can heap abuse on me. I send them text messages to gloat when their teams lose, like this. Not a day passes without us touching base about the latest happenings in the sport we adore.

This is thus my motivation for this blog – that my friends and I will have a platform to share everything we love about our game. This blog is about the jokes, the gossips and the laughter we indulge in. It is about the frank interchange of ideas. It is about the tactics, the formations, the famous stadiums, the big matches and the biggest personalities we discuss. It may have taken a long time in coming, but finally the pre-match hype is over and Right Said Fred have sung their inspirational song. Let’s get on with the game.

To my American and Canadian friends: by Football here I mean Soccer (eww!!)