As the saying goes, “From your mouth to God’s ears.” I will wish it upon myself so from my mouth to God’s ears. Somehow I have the confidence that the Black Stars will shine at the world cup. Not only can we improve upon our past, we can bring the cup home. The cup had a brief brush with the African dust, but it will look great collecting a little of the red dust of Ghana. It needs a little dust of blessings from the gods of Africa and a four-year stay in Ghana will take care of that. Go Black Stars.

First things first: Dr. Kwesi Appiah, we know the pressure is on. Take it easy. We your countrymen are all behind you. I hope knowing that we are 100% behind you will help ease the pressure. Keep your eyes on the task and the rest will follow.

As far as soccer skills go, Ghana is as good as any. For many years I have had the confidence that we can easily bring the cup home. It hasn’t happened, but that does not mean that we are not a world class team. Germany may be over confident; Portugal may have Renaldo; America may have a burning desire to avenge two losses to Ghana, but we have our skills; earned in the streets of Ghana; playing sometimes without boots. Of course all the skills don’t mean anything if we are not scoring. To that end, we must couple our skills with long passes, a determination to keep the play in the opponents’ half of the field, and increased shots at goal. We must aim at having a very high score against America as a “banker” just in case … (I don’t even want to think about it). 6-1 sounds good to me. We know how to do it; ask Egypt. If we succeed in doing what we must do, the rest will follow. I need not mention individuals. I have confidence in all the men who make the Black Stars.

I have wondered a time or two about the confidence that Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Algeria bring with them. Do they have the confidence that we have? I believe that as far as skills go, the West African teams are not too far from each other. I am sure each team will like to take the cup home as much as the Black Stars will like to, therefore I will not be too surprised if we wind up with an all Africa final game. If we get to play other African teams, we absolutely must up our shots at goal. We cannot spend the time trying to set up for a shot at goal while we give them the chance to shore up their defense and make it harder for us to take a shot at goal. Whatever the confidence the other African teams bring, we must want the cup more than they want it and we must play accordingly. Go Black Stars; we can do it.

Finally I will wish our nation “God’s Speed”. I will wish Dr. Appiah and his staff “God’s Speed”. I will wish the Black Stars “God’s Speed”. I will wish the CUP a boisterous akwaba to the start of collecting the red dust of Ghana and a happy 4-year stay. Enjoy the drum beats that you hear as we call on our ancestors to guide you in your stay and a possible return in 4 years. Our confidence and the effort we put in will make all this come true: from my mouth to God’s ears. Go Black Stars.



Tony Pobee-Mensah
tpmensahr@yahoo.com