By Eshlin Vedan
Despite being one of the most respected African nations in world football, Ghana will not be favorites to end their 35 year trophy drought and win the 2016 African Cup of Nations.
Ghana are among the most successful countries at the African Nations Cup and one of the most respected African sides in World football. They won the tournament in 1963, 1965,1978 and 1982.
However in recent times, they have had no success. They reached the finals in 2010 and 2015 but were beaten.
The Black Stars have not been through the best of form recently under coach Avram Grant. After qualifying for the 2017 African Cup of Nations to be held in Gabon playing against Rwanda, Mauritius and Mozambique, Ghana have been struggling in World Cup qualifiers.
Injuries to veteran Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew have affected the Ghana attack and caused goals to come fewer. They will play against Uganda and Egypt who they struggled against in World Cup qualifiers, failing to score a goal against them as well as Mali who have had success over them in recent years.
Ghana have continued to disappoint fans after their successful 2010 World Cup campaign where they exceeded expectations by reaching the quarter finals and where robbed off a place in the semi-finals by the hand of Uruguay’s Luis Suarez. They had a disappointing 2014 World Cup, failing to advance beyond the group stage and reportedly had team infighting during the tournament.
As a result they were booed during their return to Kumasi and lost the trust of many football mad Ghanaians. Though they are not high in confidence, the Ghana squad certainly has potential and will hope to defy expectations. They begin their African Nations Cup campaign next Tuesday, January 17th in a game against Uganda. Captain of the team Asamoah Gyan and brothers Jordan and Andre Ayew will have to play key roles should Ghana hope to do well.
Source: igeeksoccer.com