Back from the brink

Everyone will remember 29th March,2011 as the day Ghana became the first African country to avoid defeat at Wembley against the 3 Lions of England. Everyone will remember Asamoah Gyan's 91st minute leveller to send 20,000 fans at the ground and the millions back home in Ghana into absolute delirium.

However,this result had looked unlikely 5 minutes into the game. England led by Gareth Barry in place of John Terry outplayed Ghana all over the pitch and looked as though,the 3 Lions would roar so hard the Stars would not shine. Jack Wilshere roamed the midfield leaving Anthony Annan in the shade while Stewart Downing terrorised Lee Addy for the first half in a constant barrage of attacks giving many Stars fans worrying moments. In truth,the Black Stars looked sluggish and out of the contest and deservedly, England took the lead through Andy Carroll after Downing had knocked a Wilshere pass down for the Liverpool man to slam home past a stranded Richard Kingson.The big,burly striker had occupied John mensah and Issac Vorsah busy all night with his tough approach and his relentless nature of play.It was a huge body blow as Dominic Adiyiah had missed a glorious one-on-one with Joe Hart very early in the half after being put through by Gyan.
The second half saw Ghana coach,Goran Stevanovic introduce some of his charges he and inadvertendly, these changes saw the Black Stars lift up their game and they created more chances with Gyan missing the most glaring after being put through and all he could do was to smash it into the side netting albeit from an acute angle. With England being restricted to fewer chances,Ghana pressed with Gyan leading the line and he was rewarded with a goal made out of pure genius. He bamboozled Joleon Lescott in the area and shot left-footed past Joe Hart to save the game for the Black Stars.
Persoanlly,the game presented some important positives for us to build on for the future.The gaffer,Goran Stevanovic,showed that he could see faults and rectify them. He brought off Lee Addy when he was being fried by Downing and he replaced him with a more stable Daniel Opare and his choice of Derek Boaten gave us calmness and ball retention in the middle of the park and this allowed the Stars to press hard for the goal. For all his work,Muntari never gave us the width we needed and Andre Ayew came on at the right time when the Sunderland man had expired to give us more steel down the left flank and keep Ashely Young at bay in the second half.
The downsides of tonight's performance are that:
1) we should be on the lookout for a permanent left back. Lee Addy clearly lacked the pace and positional awareness to take on a decent winger and he was the outlet through which England attacked in the first half
2)The team started slowly and in a game with very tough side,the Black Stars will a lot to think about. We failed to show a clear sense of urgency in the early parts of the game and in effect,our pressing was poor and this allowed the English to play the ball out of defence and dictate the pace of play.

However,the plaudits must go to Asamoah Gyan. His constant running meant our attack was kept alive and he dropped deep to help the build up when the ball was slow in getting upfield and his goal was a just reward.A goal that has signalled how important he is and how he has metamorphosed from a budding talent to a player who is ready to mix it up with the big boys.

TEAM LINEUPS
England: Hart, Johnson (Lescott 46), Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Milner, Barry, Wilshere (Jarvis 69), Downing, Carroll (Defoe 59), Young (Welbeck 81).
Subs Not Used: Green, Parker, Crouch, Bent, Carson.

Booked: Milner.

Goals: Carroll 43.

Ghana: Kingson, Pantsil, Vorsah (Jonathan Mensah 46), John Mensah, Lee Addy (Opare 46), Adiyah (Tagoe 69), Annan (Derek Boateng 46), Agyemang-Badu, Kwadwo Asamoah (Inkoom 83), Muntari (Ayew 59), Gyan.
Subs Not Used: Adjei, David Addy, Kumordzi, Clottey, Sowah.

Booked: Derek Boateng, Ayew.

Goals: Gyan 90.

Att: 80,102.

Ref: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey).

Prioritise right,Ghana.

Any tie involving our dear Black Stars and any other national team is always an improtant game and it is even more important as the next of such important games is againt the 3 Lions of England. Yes, I mean England. The same England John Terry captains, the same England Wayne Rooney plays for and the same England who break hearts (including mine) at major international competitions. That's huge,folks.Real huge.
However,this England vs Ghana should take the back seat and why should it? It's simply because we have a masssive game in Brazzaville against Les Diables Noirs of Congo in an AFCON 2012 qualifier on Sunday. A game which could have huge repercurssions on whether we'll be at the competition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon next year and possibly fulfill the head gaffer's dream of winning the continental trophy for the first time since 1982 but it seems the bright lights and the lure of London has led some of the top football officials to forget this simple scenario and they have been queueing up at the British High Commission to get visas for the London trip and fortunately (or unfortunately dependin on how you look at it), they were refused.
Maybe we need to be reminded of how crucial this weekend's game is. After picking up a point against Sudan at home in the last round, we opened the door for Sudan and Congo to catch up and put the Stars under pressure and should it all go wrong in Brazzaville, we will fall 3 points behind Congo and then we put ourselves at the mercy of playing a series of must-win games to close the gap and face the possibility of ''mathematics'' at the end of the series. Furthermore, this game is worth 3 points. 3 points which can improve our FIFA ranking and give us the opportunity of playing world class opposition later on in the year. I do not think this is too difficult for our football ''elders'' to understand, is it? Well, for some it is and it is the reason why they hopped up and down and went visa chasing.
In my opinion, this is a snap shot of how we sometimes look at issues in this country. There is a perpetual failure to do what is necessary and right and instead we enjoy labouring tirelessly for what seems pleasing to the eye, pocket and sometimes stomach. In an era where the local game is blighted with so many challenges in terms of general match quality, poor officiating and financial difficulties for clubs, huge sums of money were going to be spent on officials for the trip to Wembley on Tuesday and when it was all over, these officials would return to Ghana and find the game in the same state they left it. Huge marks for prioritising for our top men.
I am hoping that we get it right in Brazzaville and play some good football against England on Tuesday because we have to but to our officials who wanted to go to Wembley and forgot all about Brazzaville,let the words of my good friend, Gary Al-Smith, guide you:
''Our approach to the England and Congo games is akin to telling your wife to wait while your girlfriend uses the loo''. Think about it.