The year 2015 nearly delivered to Ghana her fifth historic Africa Nations Cup (AFCON) silverware but for a cruel lottery of penalty shootout which saw the Black Stars surrendering the enviable trophy to next door neighbours Cote d’Ivoire through the pain barrier.
From a hopeless start to a glorious finish, the Stars had struggled their way from an opening game loss to Senegal to reach the grand final of Equatorial Guinea 2015 and looked set to lifting the trophy after a 30-year wait.
But after dominating a star-studded Elephants side led by the iconic Yaya Toure and going ahead to take a 2-0 lead in a marathon shootout, the Stars surprisingly gave away the lead and ended up settling for silver in a repeat of the Senegal ’92 drama which earned the Ivorians their first AFCON title.
The Stars’ impressive performance was the first handwriting of Avram Grant who assumed the reins of the team for a two-year term barely one month to the tournament amidst widespread skepticism.
The Israeli trainer took over from stop-gap Coach Maxwell Konadu on December 1 the previous year and transformed the team to the surprise of many a Ghanaian at the AFCON.
The Stars began the Equatorial Guinea 2015 campaign on a jerky note after a harrowing 1-2 loss to Senegal, but quickly recovered with a crucial 1-0 win over a well-drilled Algerian side, followed by a 2-1 win over stubborn South Africa to secure six points and advance from Group C to the last eight stage.
With their confidence boosted, the Stars, featuring two new faces in central defender Daniel Amartey and striker Kwasi Appiah, went on to convincingly thrash unpredictable Guinea 3-0, in a match which produced the best goal of the tournament from the boot of Christian Atsu, who also emerged the best player of the competition.
Interestingly, Ghana booked a promising semi-final date with host nation Equatorial Guinea who had been impressive all the way. However, they met their Waterloo against the Stars who humbled them with a 3-0 walloping, which outcome the disappointed home fans could only react to with pitch invasion and riots which later attracted severe sanctions from CAF.
But when it mattered most the Stars dashed the hopes of their countrymen with a heartbreaking 8-9 loss on penalties to the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire on February 8, denying Coach Grant a fine opportunity to enter the history books as the first expatriate coach to win the AFCON for Ghana.
And even in defeat, the Stars returned home to a special treat from the state after receiving a $25,000 each handshake and a Grand Cherokee vehicle in addition to their fat winning bonuses.
After that regrettable experience, the Stars were soon to regroup for an international friendly against the Teranga Lions in France which saw the Ghanaians again losing 1-2 on March 28. However, the next game which followed three days later against Mali also in France ended in a 1-1 stalemate to set the stage for the next AFCON qualifiers which opened brightly with a 7-1 whitewashing of Mauritius at the Accra Stadium in June.
That match was preceded by a low-profile friendly against the Sparrow Hawks of Togo which ended 1-0 in favour of the Stars at the same venue.
In spite of unpaid bonuses, the Stars still fought hard to snatch an important 1-0 away win over Rwanda in the next AFCON qualifier at the Stade Amahoro in Kigali in September, after beating Congo 3-2 with a makeshift side in a ceremonial match in Brazzaville.
Coach Grant, who received a lot of flak for staying mostly in the UK much against his own promise, was called to duty again on a FIFA free day on October 13 when the Stars engaged Canada in another international friendly which ended 1-1 at the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington DC.
Before the year could end, the Stars had to honour a World Cup double-header against little-known Comoros on November 13 and 17 respectively. The first leg away ended goalless, while the Ghanaians registered a 2-0 victory over their stubborn opponents in Kumasi to book a place at the group stage of the Russia 2018 qualifiers which kickstarts in March 2016.
In summary, the Stars began the year on a high and ended on a low, raising concerns about the team’s dwindling performance which needs to be improved by Coach Grant before the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers.
Source: Daily Graphic