Editorial: Stars Must Ignore Germany�s Praise

The fate of the Senior National Team, the Black Stars, in respect of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup Championship to be hosted by South Africa was known after the draw that has generated a lot of anxiety in the country. The draw, which was described by the Chief Executive Officer of the Organising Committee of the tourney, Danny Jordan as the �General celebration of Africa�, brought Ghana alongside Serbia, Australia and Germany. Ever since the draw, Germans have been quick to suggest that the Stars will qualify from the group stage alongside the Europeans. Though we on GO perfectly agree with the above, we urge the Stars to see every team as equally important and a hurdle they must climb. Germany must be seen as any great team in the world, because the 2006 World Cup host is unpredictable and could take the stars to the cleaners again if they allow words of praise from the tree-time world champions to get into their heads. We agree with Ghanaian goal-scoring legend Tony Yeboah that Germany has showed over and over again that they know how to perform creditably in tournaments. We caution that though the three-time world champions may no longer have big names apart from Ballack as they used to in the past, the Stars would be very wrong be very wrong to judge them by that. As Yeboah said in an interview with the Daily Graphic, the German�s knack for meticulous planning means they will pour every detail on the Ghanaian team. It is our belief that our team can only match the German team and all other teams with adequate preparation. We also encourage the Stars to use the forthcoming African Cup of nations, Angola 2010 as a rehearsal ground towards the world cup tourney. Being the first African country to qualify for the World Cup tourney and the only African team which qualified to the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, we believe the Stars can perform wonders. It would be recalled that GO was among the few media houses that predicted victory for the current World Under 20 Champions, the Black Satellites of Ghana. We are therefore of a great conviction that the �boys� would perform wonders if they play as a team and not as individuals. We also believe that with the spirit of determination, patriotism and the can do spirit the �Black Stars would go far like their little ones (The Black Satellites). We therefore urge the Stars to emulate their junior team, the under 20s and go for the African Cup and further win the World Trophy. It is our hope that if Africa was able to break the yoke of supremacy of the Western World by hosting and winning the Under 20 World Cup Tournament, the continent can once again host the World cup in S.A and win. GO further charges all stakeholders to see to see to it that the right structures are put in place and at the right time. We must put in place effective measures so that the team does not for instance depend on just few key plays to succeed. We must put in place effective measures so that the team does not for instance depend on just few key plays to succeed. We also call on GFA officials to exploit all avenues to make sure quality players represent the nation come 2010. Just like the Serbians have done by finding somebody to assist their senior coach, we need somebody lie Coach Sellas Tetteh to assist the Senior Coach to add more value to the team.