AKWAABA !!!!!!!!! BRA GRANT

PHOTO CREDIT:FOOTY-GHANA.COM

At long last you are here with the lovely and warmly welcoming people of GH. Ghanaians are warm people and very welcoming, especially to any light-skinned person popularly referred to us “Obroni’. You arrived in our beautiful land on Tuesday, 2 November, 2014 and as usual we say “Akwaaba” welcome to you. Bra Grant, I believed the GFA officials treated with you some local Ghanaian beer ‘Pito’and a local Ghanaian meal that I will personally recommend to you waakye with goat meat and wele. It is very nice when taken in the morning as breakfast between the hours of 6am to 10am especially when it is been served in the leaves.

Well, Bra Grant enjoys it while it last. Although Ghanaians are a warm and beautiful welcoming people, don’t forget the reason why you are in this country. The nation’s HEART is in your hands, and by heart I mean our national team, the Black Stars. Failure will mean breaking our hearts, and trust me; you will not like the angry Ghanaian football fan when he/she is disappointed.

Right now, it’s clear that you are Ghana’s beloved national football team, the Black Stars coach. But bear in mind that, the same people who are welcoming you are the same people who will make you feel uncomfortable you fail to deliver.

I believe by now you know the kind of people Ghanaians when it comes to football. They like giving excuses but they won't take your excuses when you don’t bring AFCON home or other trophies and surprisingly, all the twenty-five million people of Ghana are coaches so bear that too in mind that they are great and professional tacticians.

Pressure has always been an integral part of Ghanaians when it comes to sports specially, the national team, the Black stars. The clock is ticking; there are only six or so weeks remaining to make your chance at gold and glory.  Everyone is fired up and tensions are running high.

 You have barely six weeks to build a formidable team for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Africa’s biggest football competition in Equatorial Guinea. And it is unquestionably clear that, you are very good when it comes to organizing a team and I applauds you for that.

Bra Grant, you have few weeks to prepare the Black Stars for the AFCON. I can sense the pressure on you already. Listening to an interview on ASEMPA FM, the GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi said "All outstanding issues with Mr. Grant have been cleared and we believe he is the right man for the job,” Ghanaians are also saying that go do your best. But the actual meaning of those words is that, go and bring the AFCON CUP. Ghanaians are hungry for cups now.

My advice to you is that, if you don’t want any insult and problems please get the team to win the AFCON. Bra Grant, don’t be comfortable with the idea thrown out by some individuals that

the time for you to prepare for the AFCON is short, hence tasking you to win the AFCON is asking too much. Listen to me very carefully; Ghana has performed extremely well in our last four AFCON appearances. In 2008, when we hosted it, we qualified to the semifinals and won bronze.In 2010, in Angola, Ghana made it all the way to the finals only to lose 1-0 to Egypt. In 2012, when the tournament was co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, we made it to the semifinals and lost 1-0 to Zambia, the eventual winners. The downhearted team lost the third place 2-0 to Mali.

History repeated itself a year after in South Africa 2013. We made it once again to the semifinals, lost 3-2 to Burkina Faso on penalties and lost the third place again to Mali with a 3-1 score line. In four straight AFCON competitions, Ghana’s worst performance has been an appearance in the semis. Don’t listen to anybody who says we don’t expect you to win the competition they must be joking because if you don’t win you will regret coming to Ghana.

As a sports writer and an ardent fan of the national team, I will advise you to be your own man, as I indicate earlier, that every Ghanaian, football fan or not during most important competitions like world cup and AFCON automatically becomes a coach. You can verify this information from the twenty-five million best sports writer CHRISTOPHER OPOKU. Don’t hastate to contact Christopher Opoku  He will give you all the information “filla” inside out on sports issues in Ghana and beyond.    

But remember, Bra Grant how long you will enjoy your stay in Ghana will depend on you and your performance AFCON 2015. Once again, Akwaaba!!!!!