The Black Stars of Ghana are likely to repeat history by lifting the 2019 AFCON trophy in Egypt following the trend of events in the ongoing competition after their 0-0 draw with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
The West Africans won the 1982 AFCON in Libya, their last in 37 years, and are poised to end the long wait for the gong.
Libya, a Maghribian nation presented the Black Stars with a monumental history when Ghana lifted their 4th and last trophy in the tournament.
History has it that the Black Stars nearly boycotted the tournament after some political instability in the country but for the authoritative intervention of the then head of state, Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings.
Chairman Rawlings at that time insisted the team took part in the tournament and in a short time; the technical handlers of the team hurriedly put a team together for the tournament.
Despite Ghana not experiencing political instability now, there have been a huge earthquake in the football governance of the West African country, following the Anas Exposé a year ago.
The country’s football is under normalization, led by a Normalization Committee set by FIFA for a period of 12 months.
Compared to the 1982 political instability, the normalization period of Ghana football qualifies as one of the major features that shows Ghana can lift the trophy.
Ghana won the last trophy in Libya, an Arab country in a very wonderful style.
The first game of the Black Stars in 1982 ended in a 2-2 draw with the host nation with the second game ending 0-0 with Cameroon.
On Saturday, Ghana drew 0-0 with Cameroon in the second game of the 2019 AFCON, a repeat of the second game of the 1982 AFCON when they had drawn 2-2 with Benin in their first game which is also a repeat of their score line in the first game of the 1982 AFCON with hosts Libya.
Miraculously, Ghana won the 1982 AFCON with a local manager with Kwasi Appiah as a player in the team and Kwasi Appiah is now the head coach of the team. So the local manager and Kwasi Appiah factor also comes into play.
The Ayew factor can’t also be forgotten. Abedi Ayew Pele, father of Andre and Jordan Ayew was also a member of the team that won the 1982 AFCON and his two sons are now part of the team that is looking to end Ghana’s long wait for the trophy
Ghana then won the final group game by a lone goal over Tunisia to qualify to the next stage of the competition and went ahead to lift the trophy.
Should Ghana record a 1-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday, then a repeat of the 1982 AFCON is likely to happen.
So for the chronology of the events;
- There was political instability in Ghana and there is currently political instability in the governance of football in Ghana
- The tournament in 1982 was played in an Arab country – Libya, and the current tournament is being played in an Arab country, Egypt.
- Ghana drew 2-2 with Libya in their first game in 1981 and Ghana drew 2-2 with Benin in this year’s tournament
- Ghana drew 0-0 with Cameroon in their second game in 1982 and have drawn 0-0 with Cameroon in their second game in 2019
- Ghana won the Libya 82 AFCON with a local manager – CK Gyamfi, and now the team is managed by a local manager – Kwasi Appiah.
- Kwasi Appiah was a member of the team that won the AFCON in Libya 82 and he’s now the head coach of the team.
- In the Libya 82 squad, Abedi Pele was a member of the team and now his two sons -Andre and Jordan Ayew are members of the team.
Will the Black Stars make history following a repetition of the events in Libya?
