Ho, June 27, GNA - The Ho Municipality has been muted by the defeat of the Black Stars by Brazil in the one sixteenth stage of the World Cup going on in Germany but many were of the view that the referee won the match for Brazil.

The vociferous support for the national team and hopes of victory melted to despondency as minutes ticked by and it became obvious that the day was not for the Stars.

Drinking bars, some of which had brought out extra chairs in anticipation of customers trouping in if the Stars won were empty. Traffic started returning to the streets during the second half as taxi drivers who parked to watch the game returned to business. The consensus was that the Black Stars lacked bite in front of the Brazilian goal area.

As usual some thought that officiating was poor and that the second goal, especially, should not have been accepted as the scorer was in a clear outside position.

Mr Charles Tano-Poku, an Accountant at the Food and Drugs Board Zonal office in Ho who was at pains against poor officiating thought there was a conspiracy against Ghana.

"Come to think of Ghana being the first time entrants taking out the world's number one team, Brazil, that was unacceptable to power brokers in the tournament," he stated.

For him, all the goals scored by Brazil were from outside positions and wondered why match officials would not call the referee to order if there was a communication link between them. It was not all despondency as shouts of praise for the Black Stars could also be heard, with many expecting them to be given a hero's welcome back to Ghana. 27 June 06