Africa has produced several great goalkeepers in the past; some of these great goalkeepers are Nkono of Cameroon, Chabala of Zambia, Robert Mensah, Ibrahim Dossey, Simon Addo, Sammy Adjei, and Edward Ansah of Ghana. It is generally believed by many football fans that the late Robert Mensah remains the all time best goalkeeper ever to emerge from Africa.

Ghana is blessed to have produced that many great goalkeepers in the past. But it is gradually becoming obvious that the time for Ghana to establish a very good goalkeeping Academy to produce very good goalkeepers for the future is now. The recent establishment of Football Academies in Ghana is good, but there is the need for Ghana to establish one or two very good Goalkeepers Academy in Ghana to support all of our youth and senior national teams.

Ghana has depended on basically Sammy Adjei and Richard Kingston for the past ten to fifteen years. Sammy Adjei has represented Ghana as the first choice goalkeeper at the youth level and has been a top goalkeeper for Accra Hearts of Oak, Club Africain, and FC Ashdod but has always remained the second choice goalkeeper for the senior national team.

Goalkeeper Richard Kingston has been the number one or first choice goalkeeper for the senior national team of Ghana for more than a decade. He is currently the most Capped Ghanaian footballer, with almost sixty caps. Richard Kingston has been a top goalkeeper for clubs in Ghana, Sweden, Turkey and England. Some of the clubs he has played for are Great Olympics, of Ghana, Hammarby IF of Sweden, Sakaryaspor, Goztepe A.S., Elazigspor, Antalyaspor, Ankaraspor, Galatasaray S.K. of Turkey, Birmingham and Wigan Athletic of England.

It is generally believed that the excellent performance of Richard Kingston during the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany paved the way for Birmingham City of England to sign him in 2007. His move to England was very good news for him and most Ghanaian football fans, but unfortunately Kingston has not enjoyed much playing time since he moved to England. He has consistently been on the bench for Birmingham and Wigan Athletic. His lack of playing time has been disturbing to himself and Ghanaian football fans, but Kingston still remains the first choice goalkeeper for Ghana.

Many Ghanaian football fans criticized the current coach of the senior national team for making Richard Kingston the number one goalkeeper during the Angola 2010 African Cup of Nations tournament. Some Ghanaian football fans preferred Daniel Adjei the recent under 20 world cup gold medalist as the first choice goalkeeper and not Richard Kingston. But he proved his critics wrong by propelling Ghana to the final where they lost to Egypt. It is believed that the black star coach choose Kingston over Daniel Adjei, because of his experience at top level tournaments.

Once again the World Cup is here and most importantly hosted by an African country. Most World football analyst has predicted that an African Country will make a positive impact by making it to at least the semi final stage. Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Ghana are tipped to make a very good impact. But, is Ghana ready? There is no doubt that Richard Kingston has selflessly served Ghana well through the game of football, but I have struggled to find good or encouraging answers to the following questions.

1. Will you choose an experience goalkeeper with less playing time at his current club or a less experienced goalkeeper with more playing time at his current club?

2. Will Daniel Adjei, the under 20 World Cup winning goalkeeper be a good replacement for Kingston?

3. Can Richard Kingston prove his critics wrong once again?

4. Can Ghana make a positive impact at the World Cup?

5. Is Richard Kingston the best we have at the moment?

Frankly, the lack of top class goalkeepers to replace Richard Kingston cannot be blamed on him. I believe strongly that Richard Kingston himself would have liked to retire from international football and to focus on making the first team list at club level if Ghana had a very good replacement for him, but unfortunately Ghana does not have a very good replacement at the moment.

I believe strongly that this will be the last world cup appearance for Richard Kingston. Ghanaians must therefore give him the respect he deserves and make the end of his International football career a pleasant one.

The solution to our goalkeeping problems can be solved by investing in the establishment of very good goalkeepers Academies in Ghana. Retired Ghanaian goalkeepers should be hired to work at these goalkeepers Academies as trainers or instructors. Young and talented youth in Ghana will benefit a lot from the retired goalkeepers. God bless Ghana.

BY: NICK AMUNA USA Email: nicamuna@yahoo.com