The Ghana Football Association and sections of the media seem to be engulfed in an euphoria, which suggests “eureka” that a solution has been found that will see the Black Stars do well in the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
This is informed by the appointment of a new head coach, Carlos Queiroz, suggestively a man with a Midas touch, that would turn around the fortunes of our national football team overnight.
The approval and belief from the media, could be gleaned and observed from the long historical narrations of the successes achieved by Queiroz from football clubs to national teams across continents: Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.
What they have not told us is how he worked with the teams and his players before he took them through those tournaments.
Less than a month
In our case, he has less than a month to constitute the team to meet the deadline of May 11, 2026 for the submission of the team list to FIFA .
That is part of our reality if it is anything worthy of attention.
It would mean the list would have to be produced before the next friendly matches lined up for the Black Stars.
That is where reliance on the past could be dangerous and flattering.
For as has been noted significantly by someone, “no matter how tall your grandfather, you must do your own growing”.
It has also been noted elsewhere that, ” if you carry a fish from the water to the forest and ask it to climb a tree, it will not be able to do that and you may end up assuming that the fish is foolish but the reality is that the fish was never created to climb trees”.
That is where I have my doubts whether Queiroz could prove equal to the assignment and the players would sacrifice for our country.
When we were young, there was a fetish in my hometown which purported to guarantee success to schoolchildren during examinations.
Accordingly, some of the children were not encouraged by their parents to learn only to be taken to the shrine the evening before the examinations commenced.
They were to bring their pens and items to be used for the examinations including mathematical sets to be blessed and purified. Pens were filled with some concoctions and the children were sent away with promises that things will be well.
Most of the time those of us who did not participate in the rituals were counted out of success, but as soon as the examinations started, the reality became obvious, the spirit-filled pens did not automatically write the answers, it was always those who learnt hard who passed.
Whilst one could not describe the fetish as a liar for fear of retribution, passing was based on answers written on the answer sheets, not beliefs.
That is why we should not begin to sing redemption songs when players, not coaches, are the ones who score goals and make for success in football matches.
Reality of football
In the last European Club Championship matches of the Union of European Football Associations, Real Madrid beat Manchester City home and away, yet no one can say with certainty that the Madrid coach has more experience and expertise than Pep Guardiola.
That is the reality of football, that whilst an experienced coach could be the deciding factor, by way of team selection and tactics, if the players are unable to score a goal, the team can never win.
When a player like Vinicious Jnr misses a penalty, you can never blame the coach for the failure.
Queiroz has made a name for himself, but with the time available for assembling the team and releasing the list formally, he may not be on his own as to who should constitute the team.
He does not have the opportunity to even test the materials available before he submits the list.
Already, some in the media, like other notable public figures, have started putting out names and priming Queiroz to look into that as possible sources of constituting his team.
Human as he is, he will act and some interests would be satisfied.
He has little time to argue or resist temptations of influence and interference.
He might be his own when the games commence, but for now, he could be manipulated.
The bottom line, however, is that we have brought the needless and avoidable pressure upon ourselves.
We thus do not have time for idle talk and gossip as to who must be held accountable, just as in football, when a team has the advantage with the ball, referees, depending on the gravity of offence committed by a player of the opposing team, usually may not halt the flow of games by ruling about foul, but allow the game to continue and only apply the sanction when there is opportunity for the game to restart.
On that score, we need to talk to our players to be focussed and committed on the field of play.
Concomitantly, if we fail to move beyond our previous record at the World Cup, we should not undeservedly ruin Queiroz, because no fish is created to climb a tree and more so coaches do not score goals because they are not part of the players on the field of play. It is when the players are determined, committed and dedicated to the cause and course of the nation through the cohesiveness of their play, that goals can be scored.
The next time it happens, where management disturbs the pace of preparation, it is the management that must fall for purposes of accountability.
When recently Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup, the issue was never about the coach but the managers of the Italian Football Association and the chair resigned.
We must never forget that the Black Stars, and for that matter Ghana, holds the enviable record of being the first country to have won the Continental football championship three times, and with Ghanaian coaches superintending but we were not in the last tournament. History and experience alone do not win football matches.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
