African Cup of Nations Group B Preview: Ghana

Ghana won the tournament the first two times it was staged, and picked up victories in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982. However, they’ve failed to lift the trophy in the 31 years since – an underachievement given that they’ve had Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah and Stephen Appiah amongst their more notable players in that time.

Despite their golden age of continental success being behind them, in recent years they’ve made a global breakthrough. The Black Stars first reached a World Cup finals in 2006, achieved their all-time FIFA rankings high of 14th place between February and May 2008, and famously were denied a place in the 2010 World Cup semi-final by a Luis Suarez handball.

In the African Cup of Nations, Ghana finished runners up two tournaments ago in 2010 and reached the semi-finals last year, so the elusive breakthrough could happen this time around.

How Did They Qualify?

As a result of playing the tournament for a second successive year, qualifying was a shortened process this year. Ghana received byes through the preliminary and first qualifying rounds. In the second round the Black Stars faced Malawi, who were defeated without too much fuss, 3-0 on aggregate.

Manager

James Kwesi Appiah was a left-back who spent his entire career playing domestically for Asante Kotoko, picking up just four caps.

He was promoted from his position as Under-23 manager last April after the highly paid foreign manager Goran Stevanovic failed to win the ACN. The national team have won four from six games under Appiah’s leadership, with the one defeat being a World Cup qualification six-pointer against Zambia.

Star Men

Asamoah Gyan

A skilful and pacey forward, he looked to be the talisman Sunderland needed to put in a serious challenge for Europe, and an exciting one at that. Now playing with Al-Alin in the United Arab Emirates, Gyan is Ghana’s captain and their main forward threat.

Derek Boateng

Despite being frozen out of the Dnipro squad after a falling out with manager Juande Ramos, the defensive midfielder is rated highly and has been tracked by a number of teams in this transfer window, with a loan move to Fulham for the remainder of the season apparently on the cards.

Manager Kwesi Appiah, despite saying that players must play for their club sides to make the national team, has stuck with Boateng during his time out of the Ukranian side’s first team, showing that he has a lot of faith in the combative midfielder.

Kwadwo Asamoah

The 24-year-old has 40 caps, and has established himself in the Juventus first team after a summer move from Udinese, with Manchester United reportedly one of his admirers. He’s played 23 times for the Italian champions by the winter break. His critics say Asamoah doesn’t reach the same standard for his country – the combination of ability and having a point to prove could see him making an impact. The winger has often played centrally for his country and played most of his football as an attack-minded wing-back this season, so should give his manager a range of options.

Asamoah was a surprise inclusion in the 2008 squad but was a key player for the 2010 finalists, and has now became a senior player at a young age.

Asamoah in action for Juventus.

How Far Can They Go?

Ghana are ranked 30th in the current FIFA rankings, making them the fourth highest ranked team in the competition, with group rivals Mali being third. Group B is paired with Group A, meaning progressing teams are South Africa, Angola or Morocco. All of them should put up a challenge but Ghana should realistically be able to better any. I’d be surprised if they don’t make the semi-finals, and overall victory looks achievable.

The club versus country problem is most keenly felt around the African Nations Cup, and Ghana have been particularly badly hit by withdrawals this January. Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and centre half John Mensah have all chosen not to join up with the national team. Meanwhile, a persistent rumour is going round that defensive midfielder Derek Boateng has been told that his move to Fulham is reliant on him pulling out of the Ghana squad. Despite rumours towards the end of last year, Kevin-Prince Boateng hasn’t reversed his international retirement.

The head of the Ghana FA, Kwasi Nyantakyi, has spoken of his desire to move the tournament to the summer in order to combat this problem. Having said all that, one of Ghana’s few final appearances in recent years was in 2010, when a side lacking many big names was dominant in the final against Egypt but was beaten by a single goal five minutes from time.

Ghana won the 2009 U-20 FIFA World Cup and have five of the winners in their 2013 squad. In addition to the obvious talent required, their experience of winning together could rub off on a fairly young squad and could be what’s required to end the 31 years of hurt.