The Beautiful Game

The Beautiful Game Is Back!!

2010-08-12T10:28:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone, no need to sit down because this is going to be pretty quick. So I wrote so much about the World Cup before it started but did not write anything here once it kicked off. I did not write a word about the World Cup on this blog for one reason only: there was no need to. The event surrounded us all. Even in places like the USA and India where football is as popular as a Colposcope, every man and their dog were Facebooking or Tweeting about the World Cup.

Today I just want to share my excitement at the imminent start of the European footie season. At 11:30 GMT on Saturday, Spurs vs City kicks off the Premier League and with it the life comes back into me. And into you, my friends. I’m not ashamed to admit it, the big three European leagues (Premier League, La Liga and Serie A) + The Champions’ League provide us the best of club football across the world. You also know it so why shouldn’t we celebrate the start of these competitions? This season promises a lot so I think we have much to look forward to.

If you’re in Accra on Saturday 14 August 2010, then join me and a group of friends to “officially’ welcome the season. And don’t forget to bring the wives/girlfriends to see what’s going to relegate them to second place for the next nine months.

What: 2010 / 2011 Footie Season Welcome Mixer

Where: Table Bay Jazz Bar @ Alisa Hotel, North Ridge, Accra

When: 14 August 2010 @ 11:00 GMT

world cup scouting 101

2010-05-03T00:23:00.004-04:00

So we are almost there. Seasons are winding up towards thrilling ends and managers are releasing (leaking, if you’re Ghana) provisional squads. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is truly upon us now. I dunno where I will be for the period but I know I don’t want to be doing work that will prevent me from taking in this special feast and sharing it with you here. If you know of any firm in the South Africa area offering internships to MBA students for June-July, with flexible schedules, let me in on it!

Today I’m looking at those players who are likely to build their reputations from relative unkowns to stardom at this tournament. Every tournament produces such players. I remember Landon Donovan, Park Ji Sung, Joaquin Sanchez, El Hadji Diouf and Kleberson from Japan/Korea and Antonio Valencia, Philip Lahm, John Mensah, Fabio Grosso, Franck Ribery from Germany four years later. Depending on the depth of your knowledge about the game, you may know these players on my list. If you don’t know much about them, remember their names and the fact that you heard about them here first.

15. Guilermo Ochoa, Goalkeeper, Mexico

14. Nader Belhadj, Defender, Algeria

13. Neven Subotic, Defender, Serbia

12. Davide Santon, Defender, Italy

11. Jerome Boateng, Defender, Germany

10. Nicolas Otamendi, Defender, Argentina

09. Ibrahim Afellay, Midfielder, Netherlands

08. Kwadwo Asamoah, Midfielder, Ghana

07. Nicolas Lodeiro, Midfielder, Uruguay

06. Alexis Sanchez, Attacker, Chile

05. Miralem Sulejmani, Attacker, Serbia

04. Charlie Davis, Attacker, USA

03. Gervinho, Attacker, Cote d’Ivoire

02. Jesus Navas, Attacker, Spain

01. Lee Chung Yong, Attacker, South Korea

The Humble Hounds

2010-04-20T20:42:00.008-04:00

One of the most famous expressions in discussions about the beautiful game is “unsung hero”. This refers to the player who turns up, puts in a shift every day, can be relied upon all the time but somehow fails to get the recognition his abilities deserve. If this lack of credit was among only lay followers of football, it wouldn't be so disturbing. Often, some of these unsung heroes are not given the appropriate credit by experts and even coaches. Today, about 50 days from the opening match of the World Cup, The Beautiful Game is presenting to you a top ten list of such players going to the World Cup. We believe this is important as we expect that per usual, these players will largely go unnoticed. We however want you to remember their names when the event starts and closely follow their geniuses. Making a top ten list of anything is a difficult task so we would appreciate it if you can let us know about other players whose names have not been mentioned on this list:

10. Branislav Ivanovic, Defender, Serbia. He's strong as an ox, pacy going forward and is a threat from set plays. Strangely, it took him almost a year to get a game for Chelsea. Although a centre back by trade, he has deputised brilliantly for Jose Bosingwa as right back at Chelsea and we expect him to play in that position for Serbia in South Africa. Such has been his competence as a full back that we think he is now among the top 5 right backs in the world.

09. John Paintsil, Defender, Ghana. Here is another right back who will be playing in Group D. He became infamous throughout the world for waving an Israeli flag after Ghana scored against the Czech Republic in the last tournament. For that and his stop start introduction to the Black Stars team, he has never really been very popular among the extremely demanding football public in Ghana. He is however a very strong full back who rarely puts a foot wrong for either Ghana or his club side, Fulham.

08. Tim Cahill, Attacker, Australia. He was one of the good performers at the last World Cup. Perhaps the tiniest player among the giants of Australia, he defies logic by being its most dangerous player from set pieces. His last 13 goals or so have been headers. He is also hard working, technically brilliant, possesses a powerful shot and has a good eye for goal.

07. Jean Makoun, Midfielder, Cameroun. Everything good in the Cameroun team passes through Makoun. Only about 5'7” tall, he has got tremendous stability, craft with either feet, great vision and a thunderous shot. If Cameroun is to do well at this tournament, they need him to link up effectively with Samuel Eto'o. If they do, it is a terrifying prospect for the other teams in Group E.

06. Park Ji Sung, Midfielder, South Korea. He is so good that his club manager, Alex Ferguson, plays him in only the important matches. Perhaps his lack of plaudits is due to the fact that he is Korean and fans generally underestimate Asian teams and players. Park Ji Sung is however the true unsung hero - all about the performance on the pitch and little about the publicity off it. It surprises me that people forget that he was one of the standout performers at the Japan/Korea fiesta; his brilliance typified by this sumptuous goa l against Portugal.

05. Daniel De Rossi, Midfielder, Italy. Now this is a truly world class player. It took us a long time to appreciate De Rossi's play but in a changing world of football where the anchorman is perhaps evern more important than the playmaker, De Rossi is one of the best of the generation. He breaks up play brilliantly, can spot a pass from 40 yards out and is deadly from set pieces too. So long as De Rossi and others like Adrea Pirlo are grossly underrated, Italy will continue to shock the world at major events.

04. Steven Pienaar, Attacker, South Africa. One could make a top ten list of underrated players from Everton FC alone. Tim Cahill's team mate is one who took longer than usual to live up to his talents. When he played for Ajax with other youngsters like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rafael van der Vaart and Mido, it seemed Pienaar was going to be the world's best player two years from then. A series of injuries and accompanying loss of form slowed his progress. He has however been completely reinvented at Everton. He is so skilful that even Cristiano Ronaldo has confessed to watching him for some moves. He should definitely be playing for a team with bigger ambitions, especially as we see the likes of Nani and Salomon Kalou playing Champions League football every year. Maybe with the tournament in his home country, this is the time for him to prove his ability to the entire football world. Expect some outrageous tricks, breathtaking runs, a goal or two and innovative celebrations from this little South African.

03. Javier Zanetti, Defender, Argentina. I am lost for words when it comes to Zanetti. It seems impossible that a player can be so good for so long without being known outside of hardcore footie followers. The Inter Milan captain should be there for his third World Cup, bombing up and down either flank as he always does, even at age 36. If he is required in central defence or midfield, he will also boldly step up and do a job. A true legend of the game and one who deserves a World Cup medal before the sun sets on his career. I am fervently hoping Diego Maradona selects him for the World Cup, unlike Jose Pekerman who dropped Zanetti for the 2006 showdown

02. Miroslav Klose, Attacker, Germany. He will come, he will see, he will conquer. Klose seems to be someone who is just cut for the big time. Top scorer at the last world cup and second top scorer in the one before, Klose is the one player who poses a genuine threat to Ronaldo's record as the highest world cup goal scorer of all time. With the likes of Michael Ballack and Philip Lahm sweeping crosses on to his head, I expect him to bang a few more goals at this tournament. His talents may not be celebrated today, but posterity will rightfully view him as one of the all time goal scoring greats.

01. Esteban Cambiasso, Midfielder, Argentina. Maybe not so anymore due to Inter's performance in the Champions' League this year. Cambiasso has been consistently good since he broke on to the scene as a 17 year old at Malaysia '97. He spent so many years in the shadows of other good players from that phenomenal Argentine youth team: Juan Riquelme, Pablo Aimar and even to an extent, Walter Samuel. He is however one of the greatest defensive midfielders in the modern game and he will be extremely crucial to Argentina's play. With all the attacking riches Argentina has, it will need Cambiasso at his best to break up play when teams counter attack against them. Fortunately if anybody can do that, then Cambiasso can. Here's to hoping that he will indeed step up and step out of the shade into the limelight for a change.

Honourable mentions: Jonas Gutierrez (Argentina), Dejan Stankovic (Serbia), Patrice Evra (France), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Joseph Yobo (Nigeria)

In our next article, we will be reviewing the unknown players who are likely to take the World Cup by storm. Every tournament we get a few players who go from relative obscurity at the start to stardom at the end. If you have any such player in mind, let us know about him by sending us an email: tkyeiboateng@gmail.com.

Don't believe the hype

2010-04-04T20:27:00.007-04:00

It was absolutely thrilling for me to be back in Ghana for my 2010 Spring break. I got the opportunity to watch football at Epo spot and drink several bottles of Guinness all over again. One of the things that make our country such an exciting place is the group of local language radio stations. Most of the comments, especially on the sports programs, border on the ludicrous. It is not uncommon to hear comments from these stations that make you go like "What! Did he actually say that?" So it turned out that as I listened to the morning sports show on one of these stations, a serious argument broke out between the co-hosts. The cause? One of them stated emphatically that “Sergio Aguero is better than both Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo combined”. Wow! And before you ask, these sports hosts are very, very up to date with what's happening in the football world. They watch almost all the important matches live on T.V and even travel to cover some of them at the stadiums. So why will a football expert make a pronouncement of such idiotic proportions? Hype. Football is one of the industries that is able to hype up its stars to the skies and unfortunately, it's easy to buy into the hype.

With my fury at the argument on the radio as a backdrop, I've made a list of the top ten most overrated players going to the world cup. This is also officially my first world cup countdown article. (I think I've let Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marouane Chamack & David Beckham escape by limiting this article to only the players going to the world cup).

10. Steven Gerrard (England): He's one of two good players in a very mediocre Liverpool team. He has salvaged the team on many occasions and is a legend in Merseyside. One can however count on his fingertips the number of good games Gerrard has had in the last two years. I think the Gerrard vs Lampard (statistically the best Premier League Player of the last 10 years) debate was settled when Capello decided that the former better leaves the latter alone in the middle of the park. Stevie G will therefore be playing in left midfield in SA, but expect him to be drifting into central midfield on many occasions, to detrimental effect on England's performance.

09. Deco (Portugal): He's finished - simple as that. He was a fabulous player at Porto, played brilliantly for the first two seasons at Barca and has been pants since. Why he gets anywhere near the Chelsea team is hard for me to understand. Even harder for me to understand is why he's one of the highest paid players in the world, even above the likes of Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.

08. Franck Ribery (France): He was the discovery of the last world cup, no doubt. However I think his pace and some trickery make way too many people think he's a Messi of a sort. If he was just regarded as a good player, I'd have no qualms but the fact that connoisseurs of the game rate him at the same level as Ronaldo and Messi leaves me flummoxed. If Ribery is worth the 100 million Euros that Bayern is quoting, then Tarek Djibril should be worth at least 50 million.

07. Kolo Toure / Joleon Lescott (Cote d'Ivoire/England): The worst footballing decision made by management may be Real Madrid selling Clause Makelele to make way for David Beckham. In the future I hope Man City's sale of Richard Dunne for Lescott and Kolo Toure is mentioned in the same category. To put it in perspective, Aston Villa, with Richard Dunne in defence has the third best defensive record in the EPL this season, much better than what City has achieved with the tragic combo. So long as Cote d'Ivoire continues to play the wrong Toure in central defence, their talented squad will never fulfill its potential.

06. Glen Johnson (England): Liverpool finished the whole of the 2008/2009 Premier League with 27 goals conceded. With five matches still to go in the 2009/2010 season, they have already conceded 33. The only difference in the back four for those two seasons is Mr. Johnson. Liverpool have basically paid 18 million pounds so they could concede more goals?

05. Eric Abidal (France): Patrice Evra is three times the player he is. Can't tackle, can't run, can't dribble, overly clumsy.

04. Karim Benzema (France): He can't hit a ten feet thick wall from two yards out. Ok, this may not be an accurate description of the French galactico but still he's got to be one of the most overrated players in the 21^st century. He's no better than Huntelaar yet Real released the Dutchman to make way for him. He's not as good as Higuain, yet the Argentine was benched for long periods so Benzema would adapt to the Madrid side. As Mauel Pellegrini found out at last, the problem has nothing to do with adaptation and everything to do with Benzema's abilities. He is just not that good.

03. Robinho (Brazil): I have a question: If you are overrated and eventually found out, are you still overrated? If the answer is no, then I'd say I have put Robinho here unfairly. I however think some people (read Dunga) still believe he's a good player so his place on this list is merited. The truth is Robinho is a decent player with fancy footworks, nothing more. He can't be in the Brazil team on merit, but as we all know, he'll be there playing behind Luis Fabiano. They may as well be playing with 10 men.

02. Sergio Aguero (Argentina): The instigator of this article. One queer thing with Argentine football is the “Maradona syndrome”. Ever since the legendary Diego took the world by storm, Argentina has been obsessed with diminutive, tiny players with outrageous skill. If you fit the bill, you are labelled “the next Maradona”. I can think of Pablo Aimar, Javier Saviola, Lionel Messi, just to name three. Sergio Aguero is one of such players who have profited unduly from the “Maradona syndrome”. Sure he can turn on the style sometimes, he's got a powerful shot and he's engaged to the daughter of the man himself, but these don't make him a 100 million pound player. He's not as prolific as even team mate Diego Forlan, provides fewer assists than Dirk Kuyt, doesn't have the pace of a Salomon Kalou and gets injured often. How on earth such a player gets so much hype is still beyond me.

01. Dani Alves (Brazil): One of the best right backs of the modern era. I have been a huge fan of Dani's since he lightened up UAE 2003. I however don't understand why Barcelona would pay over 30 million pounds for him and why most people still rate him higher than Maicon. He can't defend, has got to have one of the worst crossing success rates in the game (by the way, the worst crosser of the ball still playing the game has to be Gael Clichy of Arsenal) and has atrocious free kick technique. He's firmly behind Maicon in the fight for the Brazil right back slot and rightly so. He will still come to the World Cup with more publicity than the Inter star for some reasons that need explaining.

What is a "one man" team like?

2010-03-01T01:58:00.009-05:00

After watching Chelsea struggle against both Inter Milan and Man City, two games Didier Drogba didn’t have a look in, I have been asking myself if there’s truth in the accusations that The Blues are a one man team. I like to see quality defending and as John Terry’s off-field problems are preventing him from putting in half decent performances lately, I couldn’t help but admire the masterful display by Lucio on Wednesday. He didn’t let Drogba have as much as a sniff on the Inter goal and Jose Mourinho who built an empire at Chelsea based on solid defending would have been thoroughly satisfied with what he saw.

The Drog was again shut out by Man City in that infamous no-handshake encounter at the Bridge and again Chelsea lost. Martin Tyler runs some interesting analysis on the importance of Drogba’s goals to Chelsea in his SkySport column. I find it curious that even Man Utd would fare better without Rooney than Chelsea without Drogba. Strange that United only seems to win when Rooney is on the field and scoring, as he did yesterday against Aston Villa in the cup final.

My questions today are:

Is there anything like a one man team?
If there is, what makes the one man so important? Is it that he is so good or the team is built around him?
Are there any modern examples of one man teams?

3. My answer to 3. would be yes, the Barcelona side of 2005-2007. They only seemed to play with one philosophy: “if you don’t know what to do with the ball, give it to Ronaldinho”.

When The Saints Go Marching In......

2010-02-09T20:30:00.007-05:00

A week is a long time in football indeed. I mean in either proper football or American football. With the deluge of high profile events since I last posted here, it’d seem like eternity but it’s only been just over a week. John Terry has lost his England captaincy and generally been treated like a pariah by the British media, Arsenal’s kids have received the second part of their annual sodomy by Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney has made firm claims to the ‘best player in the world’ title and the New Orleans Saints have gone from outsiders to win the Superbowl by a comprehensive beating of the Indianapolis Colts. If the last part sounds gibberish to you, your brain is working fine – it’s American football after all.

Superbowl XLIV

You know what, the Superbowl isn’t half bad. It generates so much excitement that I got about forty emails inviting me to Superbowl parties; half from people who I genuinely know don’t like my guts much. In that sense, it’s like proper football. It unites this often racially / culturally split place. Or does it? I ended up watching the game in the house of one of my African classmates. It was his birthday as well so Superbowl XLIV provided the perfect occasion to host his African kins. Hang out with a bunch of guys speaking American slang, drinking Bud Light and eating nachos or go drink Guinness, eat grilled pork with Kelewele and crack Twi jokes? Easy decision. I was however intrigued by how my friends were deciding on which team to support for the night. One backed the Colts because he had a bet on them (fair shout), a few more went with the Colts because Indy had a black coach and the majority rooted for the Saints because New Orleans has a bigger black community than Indianapolis. Irrationality all round, but I guess sports has nothing to do with PHIL 101. In keeping with the sentimental choices around me, I offered my support to the Saints because they were the underdogs according to the experts, and I hate sports experts. Good reason? I don’t know and I don’t care. All I care about is that it worked, and the Saints defied the experts to thump the Colts 31-17, with this touchdown as the cherry on top.

How is the Superbowl not like the Champions’ League final? Many ways, but the most irritating one is the ads that run every other minute. Seriously, imagine Barcelona vs Man Utd being interrupted every now and then for ridiculous commercials like this one. For the organizers though, I don’t think it is in any way ridiculous. It is reported that each 30-second commercial costs about $3.0 mmillion. Little wonder then that the Glazers are struggling to manage Man Utd’s finances. Such extreme commercialization just can’t be achieved in proper football without destroying the soul of the beautiful game.

Arsene Wenger & Football Basics

That Didier Drogba re-played his role as the scourge of Arsenal in the latest episode of “Men vs Boys” doesn’t surprise anyone. What surprises some of us fans is the consistency of Arsene Wenger’s whingeing. Nobody likes to lose, granted, but most of the times it is best to accept defeat with good grace. That way you can work to improve areas in which you’re weak. Not with the erudite Arsene Wenger. His complaints about Chelsea not doing anything but just win are stale and dare I say, retarded. Football has a clear set of rules to distinguish losers from winners. To win, you just have to score more than the opposition – simple. The best comment about what football is all about, I found this week, was made by paulielogic, posting on on BBC’s 606 message boards: “football fans do cheer nice tricks and clever passes, but the biggest cheer is saved for the ball hitting the back of the net”. Brutally true and something for Mr. Wenger to ponder about.

Of John Terry, Men and Cheating

I think Fabio Capello made the right decision in stripping John Terry of the England captaincy but erred in passing it to Rio Ferdinand. That’s the football equivalent of saying I don’t watch pornography but don’t mind visiting strip clubs. If he wants a truly sanctimonious person to be England captain, he should look to Jesus Christ. If he can’t find him, he should hand the armband to Frank Lampard. Oh wait – he abandoned his four year old child to his wife and deserted the family home. See, every footballer (make that human being) has his faults. That’s why I believe the famously caustic British media did not treat Terry well to begin with.

My opinion on cheating is this: every man will do it, situation permitting. Does society honestly expect men not to cheat? Like really, really? I’m still very young, but have experimented with my sexuality enough to understand this: a man is hard-wired to want his genes to survive in this world. His chance of this increases with the many different women he makes babies with. How does he make babies with them? If you said sleep with them, you’re following nicely. To this end, he is always looking for sexual opportunity and seeks out sexual variety. Of course society has advanced and one now has greater control over the survival of his progeny than in times past. One therefore does not have to go round sleeping with every woman. It however doesn’t mean that a man has all of a sudden lost this desire to sleep with a woman his natures tell him will make good babies for him. Clear? I hope so. If not get a copy of Alfred Kinsey’s seminal work on sexual behavior among males. What then should a woman do for his husband not to cheat? Pray. Literally. Of course, men do have fiduciary responsibilities to their wives, not to hurt them in any way, including cheating on them. That is why it is so distasteful when a man gets caught cheating on his wife. The effects can be devastating and I agree that we should use our best judgement.

Not impressed by Angola 2010

2010-02-01T00:25:00.010-05:00

The 27^th African Cup of Nations is going to be memorable for a long time to come. A tournament that promised so much will forever be remembered for the rebel attack on the Togolese team which preceded the event. I really feel sorry for Egypt, who delivered a masterful performance on their way to winning the cup for an unprecedented 7^th time. My wish is that the sheer class of this Egyptian side will not be lost on genuine footie fans. Best attack with 15 goals, 2 against for best defence, 6 out of 6 wins, best player of the tournament, best goalkeeper, top goalscorer, discovery of the tournament, 19 CAN matches unbeaten, 3 consecutive trophies. I don’t think there will be a more comprehensive dominance of an international tournament in our lifetime!!!!

The might of the Pharaohs aside, the football was not of the highest quality we have come to expect at Nations’ Cups. Too many of the star players just did not turn up. Watching Yakubu Aiyegbeni lumbering around the pitch like a replete Kung-Fu Panda, I wondered if these stars may well have been left to be with their clubs. It was definite justice that the two teams who clearly had the players enthused about the tournamnet made it to the finals. Unbelievable goalkeeping howlers, shocking misses, stray passes – you’d struggle to find any more of these at a major international tourney than was witnessed in Angola.

Let's take a look at the winners and many losers at this particularly tainted CAN:

The Player: AHMED HASSAN. Inspirational figure and the embodiment of everything good about the Egyptian national team: technique, stamina, grit, passion, level headedness. I challenge each of us to watch a replay of the time between Cameroun’s goal and Egypt’s equalizer in their quarter final clash. Those few minutes were an amazing testimony to bouncing back when you get knocked down. I hope guys like Sulley Muntari were watching.

The Team: With huge respect for the surprise success of Ghana’s kids, I’d have to hand this over to the EGYPTIANS. In the Egypt-Algeria semi final, I came to appreciate the proverb: “form is temporary, class is permanent”. Algeria lost the plot completely while Egypt simply just kept playing the football, right until the end. They went on to trounce their bitter rivals, all just for keeping their cool. Pure Class.

The Game: Angola 4 -4 Mali. Many candidates here, including the aforementioned semi-final and the Algeria-Cote d’Ivoire quarter final. I think the opening game edges them all for the shock factor and a demonstration of the unpredictability that makes our game so beautiful.

The Goal: Kader Keita vs Algeria. Seeing is believing.

The Clowns: Emmanuel Eboue vs Ghana and Nadir Belhadj vs Egypt. What were they thinking??

The farcical: Algeria 0-0 Angola. This was scandalous. The most annoying thing however is that it is perfectly legal and no action can be taken against either side. Tough luck, Mali. Next time take your destiny into your own hands!!

The bottlers: The Elephants. How this team manages to wow so much and disappoint so wildly is beyond me. I am one of those who were utterly seduced by the glamour of their stars and left clutching my face in shame. Lesson for the players among us: the hottest girl at the bar may not be the werewolf you’ve been dreaming her to be. Spare yourself.

The handsome: Renard Herve. A coach so ripped you could see his abs creating corrugations on the front of his shirt. A woman’s dream and a lazy guy’s nightmare.

The beautiful: Ana Paula dos Santos. Some men are born lucky and some men are born as Jose Eduardo dos Santos!!

The ugly: All the referees and assistants. Seriously, did anybody see a good looking referee at this tournament? Exemplified by Coffi Codjia, the referees were uglier than their outrageous calls.

The fashion sense: Alain Giresse. There is something always right about wearing a pair of hard khaki pants, a well pressed shirt and a blazer that was cut for just you. The Gabonese head coach brings business casual attire in emphatic style to a sport that is both business and casual.

The nonsensical: CAF. All of the officials. First, they fail to correctly identify the security issues inherent in Cabinda. Second, they fail to offer the Togolese team any support whatsoever. To rub salt into wounds, they ban the Hawks from the next two subsequent CANs, in a stupid show of power.

The Best XI (4-1-2-1-2) : El Hadary (Egy), Bougherra (Alg), Goma (Egy), Inkoom (Gha), Tiene (CIV), Song (Cam), Hassan (Egy), Ziani (Alg), Asamoah (Gha), Gyan (Gha), Gedo (Egy).

The coach: Hassan Shehata. Living Legend.

That’s it for CAN Angola 2010 then. Let me know what you think. In the meantime, I'll get ready for my first Super Bowl weekend experience, wondering what it has on Champions’ League final day.

Let the players, not the referees decide!!!

2010-01-26T12:29:00.010-05:00

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

2010-01-17T08:19:00.006-05:00

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.

2010-01-10T00:37:00.009-05:00

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!

2010-01-07T10:05:00.007-05:00

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

2010-01-05T01:41:00.014-05:00

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.........

2010-01-03T15:18:00.011-05:00

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!!)