HAIL THE STARS (FEB 1, 2010)

Yes, it is all over, the dust has settled on Angola 2010 and the young Black Stars whom pundits and so-called experts gave no chance of reaching anywhere, reached deep into the grand final.
And after a gallant display of Ghanaian skill and pride, lost by the narrowest of margins (1-0) to seven-time winners Egypt after 93 minutes of pulsating football, the Black Stars were not disgraced as they largely dominated the game.
Angola 2010 has not been short of drama. A few underdogs have made a mark by “spoiling the party“ for the known football giants on the continent while some favourites who even qualified for the South Africa 2010 World Cup tournament — Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia — were shown early exit.
In all the twists and turns of the three-week tournament, one of the teams the experts had confined to the “pot” of hopelessness was Ghana, a team severely depleted of “big-name” players including Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien, Laryea Kingston, John Mensah, John Paintsil and Sule Muntari, leaving the Black Stars with no hope of even making it beyond the group stage.
Indeed the country’s perceived “doom” was actually sealed when Michael Essien, the country’s current biggest name in the tournament, was lost to injury just after the team’s first match against Cote d’Ivoire.
Ghana’s task was made all the more difficult with the news that Michael Essien had been ruled out of the rest of the tournament. And yet, the youthful team soldiered on, qualifying to face hosts Angola in the quater-finals.
Against an Angolan team that had more than 50,000 fans at their intimidating best backing them, the Black Stars outwitted the Palancas Negras and booked what some thought was a “suicidal” date with Nigeria in the semi-finals.
But against the predictions of the connoisseurs, the youthful Black Stars exhibited a high sense of commitment, determination and unity to dismiss mighty Nigeria and set the stage for an uncompromising final against another powerhouse, Egypt.
The tempo of the game and the exhibition of brain, skill and guts in the final showdown earned dignity for African football.
At the end of it all, Egypt has every reason to celebrate its hard-won victory and we in Ghana also have everything to celebrate, for upsetting the bookmakers not once, not twice but all the way to the final, and to give the gallant warriors who held the flag of Ghana aloft a real heroes’ welcome.
Black Stars, ayekoo!